The latest edition of the Housing Industry Australia (HIA) National Outlook has just been released and it contains mixed findings on the future of housing in Australia.
New Home Builds
One key finding of particular note is that new home builds are believed to of peaked during 2015 and they will now experience a cyclical downturn during the years of 2017 and 2018.
The commencement of new dwellings reached heady heights last year with a record 220,000 being noted. That number is now forecast to drop significantly to a figure of approximately 160,000.
The HIA National Outlook report also states that residential property prices across the country are likely to slow down after strong performances in both Melbourne and Sydney particularly.
Renovations Investment
There are some positive findings in the report as well though with renovations investment looking to make a comeback from a 12 year low.
The financial year of 2014/2015 saw very moderate growth with a return on 0.9% and an increase to 2.8% is expected for 2015/2016, and a further 1.7% increase is expected for the 2016/2017 financial year and moderate growth is expected to follow for the remainder of the decade.
Comment From The Housing Industry Australia
Mr Harley Dale, who acts in the role of Chief Economist at Housing Industry Australia, has spoken about the Australian housing market along with the politics that accompanies it.
According to Mr Dale, mild adjustments made by politicians with taxation laws regarding negative gearing and capital gains tax do not go far enough in undertaking the necessary strong reforms that are needed, and such adjustments actually have the potential to damage confidence surrounding the Australian housing market.
Mr Dale has called on the federal government to show leadership on housing market issues and to implement the changes that he believes are required in order to meet the Australian economy and publics requirements now and into the future.