Residential building keeping construction industry strong

Builders and tradesmen concerned about whether they'll have ongoing need for diggers and dumpers should take solace in the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), residential building work totalled $13.4 billion for the June 2014 quarter. This was a full 9.6 per cent on the previous year's June quarter. 

It was new home building which was responsible for the bulk of this growth, contributing 1.6 per cent to the 2.2 per cent growth in total residential building work since last quarter. 

Most of these gains were a result of detached home building, which saw a spike during the quarter. 

"These preliminary figures indicate that new home building activity is likely to represent a positive contribution to overall GDP growth," commented House Industry Association (HIA) Diwa Hopkins in an August 27 release.

Master Builders Australia Chief Economist Peter Jones was also positive, noting that the figures had kept expectations for for a strong building industry afloat. 

"Master Builders remains confident that prospects for the building industry will remain positive despite the slight 1.2 per cent seasonally adjusted fall in the ABS construction work done data for the June quarter," he said in an August 28 release. 

The residential building and commercial construction sectors had helped to offset the fall in engineering construction, which had declined by 3.1 per cent. This indicates there may well be plenty of opportunities for construction work in the future. 

Mr Jones went on to note that building work had been particularly strong in three states - Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales - where new home construction had given a kick to residential building growth. 

These results should also help to make up for a lagging renovations sector, which had declined by 2.4 per cent over the same quarter.