Home building will pick up to $120.2 billion over the next two years as some constraints in labour and materials supplies ease, but the increase will come from detached houses even as the contribution of new apartments and townhouses diminishes, the Australian Construction Industry Forum says.

The 6 per cent increase in the value of residential construction from $113.4 billion this financial year reflects an extra $6.8 billion worth of work in detached houses that ACIF has added to the pipeline since its last forecasts six months ago – and a $4.4 billion cut in its outlook for attached homes.