Home-building will pick up from the end of this year on demand from existing homeowners and investors, peaking at 254,000 starts in 2027, new forecasts from consultancy Macromonitor show.

Housing demand from so-called changeover buyers – people downsizing or upsizing – has returned to the level it was at before the former Coalition federal government’s HomeBuilder incentive payments, and they are more likely to buy detached houses than apartments, Macromonitor says.