Despite modest improvements in the last few months, the Australian construction industry has had a busy three years, with the residential market in particular having performed well, racking up three consecutive years of growth.
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has said that in the last three years, not only has the industry managed to exceed what came before, and completely surpass expectations, but that it has also managed to become something of a star in the Australian economy.
The latest data from the organisation for the June quarter of this year showed that even though there was a very modest decline in the number of homes started across the three-month period, the year as a whole has still delivered an increase in the number of new starts.
In the 2014-15 year, it said, there was an increase in the number of new builds that amounted to some 211,976. It said that this meant in the 12 month period there was a rise of 16.9 per cent in the number of homes being added to the Australian market.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said that this was particularly impressive, as it is only the fifth time in the course of the last 50 years that the number of homes has grown for three years in a row.
"Through its broad reach the new home building sector has delivered a strong economic dividend to Australia during a period when many other sectors of the economy have struggled," he said, adding that even though the HIA is predicting a little fall in the next year in the number of new starts, this should remain elevated thanks to recent performance, marking the second highest year ever.
