Last August, I wrote an article, The forgotten boom, about the apartment construction boom taking place in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Yesterday’s dwelling completions data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggests that this construction boom might be coming to an end, with overall dwelling completions falling by a seasonally-adjusted -26% in the September quarter on the back of a -47% fall in apartment construction. Overall dwelling completions were also down -33% over the year (see next chart).
The slowdown in ACT dwelling construction is also confirmed by recent approvals data, which shows approvals falling significantly since mid-2011 (see next chart).
The slowdown in dwelling construction has arguably come at an opportune time for the ACT, given that the number of homes for sale remains elevated and the number of rental vacancies has risen significantly recently, according to SQM Research (see below charts).
That said, the drop-off in housing construction in the ACT appears to be having a detrimental impact on employment, with the construction industry shedding -3,800 jobs, or -23% of its workforce, since May 2011 (see next chart).
Suffice to say, there are likely to be a lot of nervous builders in the ACT hoping that the drop-off in housing construction is only temporary.
The ACT economy/real estate market was a complete basket case 15 or so years ago once a knife was taken to the Public Service.
If we ever get a Campbell Newman style approach to some of the bigger federal departments here then expect to see history repeating / rhyming.
Now ranked more expensive than Zurich to live in, something will have to give.
At least Zurich had a nice clean appealing lake as part of its make up, not this dirty turd coloured cesspool that passes for a lake at present.
Insane.
Here, here. Not to mention the quality of the builds being likely to be at the low end of a quality scale (NOT building standards!) when compared to international builds in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Was having a yarn to the builders at Kingston foreshore where they sell $3 million dollar apartments (penthouse suites) and they told me the buildings themselves were sinking as they were built on the old swamp. The Mexico city of Canberra!
Quite honestly people have only themselves to blame when they make the possibly the largest purchase / expenditure in their entire lives and do less checks on quality and build than a used car. More fool the consumer swept up in becoming a debt riddled millionaire at the flick of a pen at the local Westpac mortgage house bank.
Was reading the local community newspaper the other day and there was an article on the epidemic of Canberra motorists running over indigenous wildlife such as turtles, wallabies and the like. How this place has changed in the last decade and as you quite rightly point out the lake is turd coloured and filthy…….representative of our federal parliamentarians from labor and liberal parties.
Yes indeed !
I cycle most days and regularly pass many of those poorly built eyesores. Seems like builders never learn how to build something fit for purpose in this place – ie. freezing winters and hot summers.
The Kingston foreshore is a joke. My mum still lives in Turner where her area has been rezoned as high density residential. Her 850sm block with a 6 bedroom two storey house has a value somewhere around the $1.5m mark. Anybody buying one of those venetian style Kingston apartments for the absurd sums they are asking needs to be committed – period.
Someone mentioned smug arseholes the other day – Canberra is full of them !
Too right. I lived in Canberra from 2003 to 2006 on the border of Griffith and Kingston (Avalon apartments on Canberra Ave). I was there when they built the Kingston foreshore development and watched the then swamp get turned into a bunch of over priced and poorly built “penthouse” (tomorrow’s slum)apartments.
If you ever want a laugh, check out the Causeway housing estate right next door (on the border of Kingston and Fyshwick, next to the train station). There are a bunch of streets that were built decades ago but with no houses on them (Detroit-style), presumably because of the unstable swamp land. Yet they decided to built a huge apartment development next door on the same said swamp! Madness…
Stories through the circle of friends about the foreshore units is nothing but appaling. Noisy (little or no sound proofing), smelly (rising damp), subsequently they no longer reside there. Other friends who own units mearly 5 years old and bought new have had water pipes burst in their bathroom, rusting ballestrade footings, cracking etc. Most have sold up and bolted to an older area. The MBA (Mafia Buiders Assocaition), HIA and real estate sector has the ACT Govermetn firmly in it’s grip. I wouldn’t buy a new unit in the ACT full stop.
Leith,
Off topic but have you seen the new Vic Open data site?
http://www.data.vic.gov.au/