Housing construction costs rose over the three months to March 2021, according to new data from CoreLogic.
CoreLogic’s national measure of residential construction costs rose by 0.8% during the March quarter, which the analytics firm said is the sixth consecutive quarter where costs have risen by 1.0% or less.
Meanwhile, CoreLogic’s national home value index found that Australian home values increase by 2.8% in March, the fastest rate of appreciation since October 1988 (3.2%).
“With dwelling approvals surging in response to the recently expired HomeBuilder grant, the residential construction sector is moving into what is likely to be an extended period of activity,” said Tim Lawless, research director at CoreLogic. “Construction costs were up 0.8% over the March quarter, slightly below the decade average rate of growth and with little in the way of variation across the states.
“Although construction costs rose at a slightly slower than average pace last quarter, it’s likely future quarters will record a more substantial lift in construction costs as shortages of both materials and labour add some upwards pressure on prices,” Lawless added.
