A Message from Simon Basheer, UDIA National President
At a time of flux in housing markets, the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) State of the Land report remains the industry’s most crucial and comprehensive overview of new home and apartment markets across our capital cities.
We know how important new dwelling construction is to the national economy – with direct and indirect output generating more than $300 billion in economic activity, or 7.5% of the national economy. Jobs, wages and prosperity up and down supply chains depend on housing construction.
So too do the dreams of home ownership for millions of Australians. The State of the Land report provides robust analysis and insights into the fortunes of the sector across our capital cities.
An important feature of this report is its ability to deep dive into the supply pipeline. Official data suggest other elements of the housing market – prices and loan approvals, for example – have begun to stabilise after two years of decline.
Notwithstanding recent improvements in market activity in terms of sales and finance availability, the State of the Land report reveals that in 2019 land sales and new home construction remained soft and median prices were flat.
That is why so much of UDIA National’s advocacy efforts are geared towards working with governments to boost supply pipelines – breaking the back of inefficient planning systems, streamlining red and green tape and reducing excessive property taxes.
We need to foster a balanced market that better matches supply to demand and reduces the risk of escalating price rises that freeze
out homebuyers.
Producing these reports takes the time, commitment and collaboration of our partners and we greatly value their work. Research4 and CoreLogic serve as our research partners and deserve credit for the quality and comprehensive nature of their work. I’d also like to commend the endeavours of the team in the UDIA NSW office which took the lead on the report this year and each of the other UDIA State offices which contribute to the project.
We hope you find it a valuable resource and look forward to continuing to work with you on critical issues facing the industry in the year ahead.
Download a Summary of Headline Statistics extracted from State of the Land 2020.
2020 State of the Land Sponsor
