Australia’s home-building sector will achieve 240,000 new housing starts twice in the next five years, as an easing in material and financing costs makes new projects more viable, but will still fall short of national cabinet’s 1.2 million-home target, new figures from Macromonitor show.

Although new dwelling commencements will rise to 252,000 in the year to June 2027, before easing back to 247,000 in 2028, annual totals in the other three years of the period set for a major housing boost will undershoot, creating nearly 1,060,000 homes, the consultancy’s April 2024 Australian Construction Outlook: Residential report shows.