Moreton, Gold Coast, Logan and Sunshine Coast dominate country’s building hotspots list

Queensland has dominated a list of the nation’s top building hotspots over the past year and after this month’s flood disaster, a building resurgence is on its way. SEE THE TABLE

This month’s flood disaster across Queensland and New South Wales is likely to trigger a massive building resurgence.

Moreton, Gold Coast, Logan and Sunshine Coast council areas have dominated a list of the country’s building hotspots in the last six months of 2021.

Along with Brisbane, they recorded some of the highest home building approvals in the country to December.

Moreton Bay Regional Council recorded 561 approvals in July, with 2690 over the six months outstripping major growth spots in both News South Wales and Victoria.

Brisbane topped the list with 4788 approvals for the six months with 1156 registered in August pre-empting a massive building boom.

Blackburn, 34km west of Sydney’s CBD, had the highest number of approvals in the country in one month with 1369 getting the green light in September and 3635 over the six months.

Melton, 35 km west from Melbourne’s CBD, recorded the highest number of approvals in Victoria with 3481 over the six months and a massive 687 in August.

The Gold Coast registered 2669 approvals, followed closely by Logan with 2583 and 1687 at the Sunshine Coast.

Logan posted a whopping 8332 approvals for the entire year, recording a slowing in residential growth in the last six months of 2021.

Its boom suburb in 2021 was Greenbank where there were 1497 approvals granted.

Logan Reserve had 724, Park Ridge 615 and New Beith had 459. Boronia Heights had 331 building approvals and Bahrs Scrub 289.

Logan approved more than 8330 development applications across its 63 suburbs in 2021.

The four southeast Queensland council areas carried the burden of the approvals where a total of 20,396 were registered over the six months.

That compared to Tasmania which recorded 1579 for the six months; Northern Territory 203; Victoria 35,081; and New South Wales 29,686.

Queensland Building and Construction Commission said the building approvals were on top of strong growth in renovations, and new builds across the state, despite Covid-19.

There were 39,350 new builds registered with the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme in 2021, up from 25,695 the year before.

A housing estate in Moreton Bay Regional Council: The area was one that topped the country's list of hotspots for building approvals in 2021.

Covid led to a renovations boom with 129,118 registered up from 102,475.

Prior to the pandemic, QBCC data indicated the new-build market was at the bottom of the cycle, with the lowest numbers seen since the Global Financial Crisis.

On the flip side, the renovation market was strong, which is often the case when the new-build market is slow, as people who may otherwise have built, choose to renovate instead.

With an increase in work-from-home activity, perhaps those renovations that have been on the backburner were brought forward, or perhaps those people with a travel budget and nowhere to go have instead directed the money to home renovations.

A housing estate in Logan: The area was one that topped the country's list of hotspots for building approvals in 2021. PHOTO: Logan Housing Study.

Despite the high number of approvals in Queensland, the state recorded a 14.8 per cent fall in seasonally adjusted dwelling approvals, unlike New South Wales where they rose by 32.1 per cent and Victoria, where there was a 3.2 per cent increase.