The number of new housing completions in Sydney has reached its highest level in 46 years and looks set to continue trending upwards.
Figures from the Department of Planning and Environment’s Metropolitan Housing Monitor released on Friday (24 March) reveal that there were 35,382 houses completed in the Greater Sydney area in the year to January 2017. This was 26% higher than the same time period last year (27,999) and 150% greater than in 2010 (14,410).
Planning and Housing Minister Anthony Roberts said these results were fantastic news for first home buyers seeking to enter the Sydney property market.
“In the last five years, more than 127,000 new homes were completed in Sydney. This is over an 80% increase on the number of homes delivered between 2007 and 2011 which was around 69,000.”
The NSW government has a target of more than 50,000 dwelling approvals each year, a Department spokesperson told
Australian Broker.
“Last year, 73,000 new homes were approved across NSW. This is almost double the number (35,700) that were built in the 12 months to March 2011. In Greater Sydney, 56,144 new homes were approved over the last 12 months and 35,382 new homes were completed."
With housing affordability the department’s number one priority, Roberts said these statistics show that the NSW government is delivering record numbers of homes across the state through its planning reforms and programs.
“We are doing a lot to increase housing supply and affordability but we can do more. We’ll be doing this through land releases, faster housing approvals, cutting red tape, medium density houses, rezoning, and funding for local Infrastructure such as roads and schools.”
These high levels of housing completions are being driven by strong demand for housing to accommodate Sydney's growing and ageing population, the spokesperson said, as well as an increasing number of people moving to Sydney from interstate, overseas and regional NSW.
“To meet this demand, the government has implemented a range of planning reforms and programs. Last year, more than one quarter of all new home completions were in Priority Growth Areas and Precincts where the government is working with councils to support urban development, land release and new infrastructure.”
The NSW government will invest $73.3bn over the next four years in transport in greenfield and established areas and has also updated the minimum lot sizes for semi-detached dwellings in priority growth areas, they added.
Whilst new housing construction was spread across the city, almost 14% of all new completions were found in the Parramatta Local Government Area.
After Parramatta, the local government areas with the greatest number of completions were Bayside, Blacktown, Camden and Canterbury/Bankstown.
“Completions have hit record levels but we expect this trajectory to continue to rise this year and into 2018,” Roberts said.
“One of the best ways to make homes more affordable for first home buyers is to increase supply. And that is what we are doing.”
The spokesperson said that the NSW government is continuing to work hard to deliver the homes that Sydney-siders need in the locations where they want to live, with the services to support them.
“It is a whole of government approach to investigate what we can do to make it easier for people to break into the market.”
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