Bayside Council area bucks national downwards home approvals trend

New data reveals building approvals are continuing to decline across the nation — but in Bayside it’s a different story. Here’s why.

22/6/18 Meriton apartments in Dee Why (18 stories on the left and 16 on the right). Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

Bayside new homes activity showed resilience in December, up on the previous year, as approvals fell to a five-year low nationally.

The council approved 96 new homes, an uptick on 2017 when national building activity remained relatively strong, according to the latest ABS data.

The value of residential construction work in Bayside climbed to $58.2 million, bolstering the work prospects for the area’s legion of tradies despite the downward national trend.

Experts believe it can take as little as three months for new building approvals to flow through to construction jobs.

The report also revealed:

— all construction work, including non-residential, totalled $65.2 million;

— $11.1 million in renovation work was approved;

— houses accounted for 15 per cent of approved residential building projects.

The value of residential construction work in Bayside climbed to $58.2 million in December.

The Bayside results come as residential development continues to decline across the country.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said housing approvals fell 8 per cent nationally between November and December as developer interest in units and townhouses dropped sharply for a second month.

Nationally, fewer than 14,000 new dwellings were approved based on seasonally adjusted figures.

At the same time last year that number was more than 18,000.

Housing Industry Association principal economist Tim Reardon said the weak result was the consequence of a range of measures including record supply of apartments, falling house prices and the credit squeeze.

IN OTHER NEWS

He said research also showed the time taken to get approval for a loan to build a new home had blown out from two weeks to two months.

“The slowdown in approvals will flow through to a slowdown in building activity on the ground later this year,” he said.

“We’ve long been anticipating the current downturn in new home building, but there is a risk it could develop more quickly and strongly than expected.”

The next batch of building approval figures will be released in March.