THE fall in housing construction starts in Western Australia is a sign that the building industry is working at its maximum but constrained by shortages in skills and labour, according to the Housing Industry Association.
Despite the hot housing market, home building starts fell 3 per cent in the state during the December quarter. HIA chief economist Harley Dale expects future Western Australia figures to rise or fall by about 3 per cent but not to show any of the big falls seen in other states. Speaking at an Australia Property Institute business lunch in Sydney on Friday, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans was cautious on Sydney house prices, saying only they were "near the bottom", and was bearish on prices in the resource-led states of Queensland and Western Australia. Mr Evans said the residential property data out of Queensland was "very, very depressing" and cautioned that in WA, "a day of reckoning is coming". Mr Evans said there was talk of a "boom that will never end" leading to increasing speculation on real estate. "It may be time to start thinking long and hard about that market," he said. However, most West Australian developers expect a solid housing market. Australand recently reported at its annual result that 30 per cent of its residential sales came from Western Australia. Australand executive general manager of residential, Peter Burke, said the performance of Western Australia was a result of the stock Australand had on the ground and where the market was in the property cycle. Australand also forecast that Perth was the only city expected to show short-term growth in its employment rate. The weakening employment growth rate elsewhere was expected to limit housing demand in most markets other than Perth, the company said. Australand's wholly-owned Perth projects were expected to yield 1200 lots and 649 dwellings with a completed value of $580 million over three to five years. Its Port Coogee project at Cockburn Sound near Fremantle, which was recently approved after much controversy, was expected to generate profit from the sale of 280 lots with a completed value of $117 million over three years. Mr Burke said the company was looking to acquire further sites within 80-90km radius of Perth, and ranging from Mandurah in the south to Yanchep in the north. "We are looking at two or three major parcels of land. It's a matter of finding the right site and then controlling costs." Stockland, Australia's largest residential developer, has about 4800 residential lots in Western Australia.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale expects future Western Australia figures to rise or fall by about 3 per cent but not to show any of the big falls seen in other states.
Speaking at an Australia Property Institute business lunch in Sydney on Friday, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans was cautious on Sydney house prices, saying only they were "near the bottom", and was bearish on prices in the resource-led states of Queensland and Western Australia.
Mr Evans said the residential property data out of Queensland was "very, very depressing" and cautioned that in WA, "a day of reckoning is coming".
Mr Evans said there was talk of a "boom that will never end" leading to increasing speculation on real estate. "It may be time to start thinking long and hard about that market," he said.
However, most West Australian developers expect a solid housing market. Australand recently reported at its annual result that 30 per cent of its residential sales came from Western Australia.
Australand executive general manager of residential, Peter Burke, said the performance of Western Australia was a result of the stock Australand had on the ground and where the market was in the property cycle.
Australand also forecast that Perth was the only city expected to show short-term growth in its employment rate. The weakening employment growth rate elsewhere was expected to limit housing demand in most markets other than Perth, the company said.
Australand's wholly-owned Perth projects were expected to yield 1200 lots and 649 dwellings with a completed value of $580 million over three to five years.
Its Port Coogee project at Cockburn Sound near Fremantle, which was recently approved after much controversy, was expected to generate profit from the sale of 280 lots with a completed value of $117 million over three years.
Mr Burke said the company was looking to acquire further sites within 80-90km radius of Perth, and ranging from Mandurah in the south to Yanchep in the north.
"We are looking at two or three major parcels of land. It's a matter of finding the right site and then controlling costs."
Stockland, Australia's largest residential developer, has about 4800 residential lots in Western Australia.
