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New homebuilding has reached its highest level since 2010 after growing more than 20 per cent over the year.
There were 48,964 dwelling commencements in the March quarter and 176,891 over the previous year, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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The March result was up 22.2 per cent over the year and up 8.7 per cent over the quarter.
New private sector houses represented 27,322 of the dwelling commencements, which marked a 23.5 per cent increase on the previous year and 12.9 per cent increase on the previous quarter.
There were also 20,577 commencements for other types of residential building – up 26.3 per cent annually and 4.4 per cent quarterly.
Meanwhile, the value of work done reached $21.8 billion, which was 6.4 per cent higher than the year before and 3.7 per cent higher than the previous quarter.
That included $11.2 billion of new residential building, $8.8 billion of non-residential building and $1.8 billion of alterations and additions to residential building.
Housing Institute of Australia chief economist Harley Dale said the level of new homebuilding was approaching historical highs – and would continue to grow.
“At a time when the economy is generally regarded to be underperforming, new homebuilding is achieving the opposite outcome,” he said.
“Given the reach of the sector into parts of the retail, manufacturing and supply sectors, new housing is providing a crucial economic dividend for the nation.”
[Related: Housing finance declines in May]
