Industry calls for urgent action as housing delivery continues to lag behind national goals
Australia’s home building sector continues to miss its national construction targets, with the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing a significant shortfall for the March 2025 quarter.
The Property Council of Australia has highlighted that the country is not on track to meet the National Housing Accord’s goal of 1.2 million new homes by 2029. According to the ABS, only 43,517 new homes were completed nationwide in the March quarter, representing a 4% decline from the previous quarter.
While housing starts rose by 14% to 47,645, the numbers remain well below the quarterly requirement of over 60,000 homes to meet the Accord’s target.
Matthew Kandelaars, group executive of policy and advocacy at the Property Council, said the latest data underscores the need for governments to do more to support the industry.
“Progress against our housing targets was never going to be linear, but we’ve reached the point where we need to hit housing delivery in top-gear just to keep pace, let alone get ahead,” Kandelaars said.
Recent analysis of ABS data revealed Australia is falling well short of its ambitious housing targets, with new home approvals tracking nearly 60,000 below the annual benchmark set under the National Housing Accord.
“It takes more than a year to build a home and more than three years to build an apartment project,” Kandelaars said. “Yet another quarter of poor numbers means more disappointment for future homebuyers and renters.”
Although there was an increase in building approvals in May, Kandelaars warned that the number of homes actually being constructed remains stagnant. He attributed the slow pace of construction to factors such as policies that discourage investment, lengthy approval processes, high development costs, and obstacles after approvals are granted.
“We’re building homes half as fast as we were 30 years ago,” he noted. “That’s not just a housing issue but a productivity problem.”
Kandelaars pointed to the upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable as an opportunity for policymakers to prioritise housing delivery as part of the national productivity agenda.
“We can’t lift productivity if we’re not building the homes our workforce needs,” Kandelaars said. “Housing isn’t just a social priority – it’s economic infrastructure. The private sector is ready to build but we need all governments to clear the path and support a system that actually delivers homes.”
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