Tag Archives: housing

Ipswich set for building boom

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I wrote last year about how Ipswich will play an important role in the eventual recovery of the Queensland building industry. The outlook for the building industry in Ipswich now appears even better than it did then, with a huge … Continue reading →

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Builders much more optimistic than current conditions would warrant

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Broadly speaking, humans are biased towards being optimistic, and the Master Builders Survey of Industry Conditions for June 2014 is a good example of the optimism bias. Builders across Queensland, and especially in the South-East, are much more optimistic about … Continue reading →

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Good employment outlook for Qld, but still waiting for strong economic recovery

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Steve Austin had a good chat with Nick Behrens from CCIQ yesterday morning on 612 ABC Brisbane, covering the economic outlook for Queensland and the Queensland Plan (What the job market in Queensland will look like in the future). Nick … Continue reading →

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Qld has three of top five regional areas with most expensive residential lots

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Housing Industry Association released a very interesting note today on median lot prices in capital cities and regional Australia (i.e. non-Capital City Australia): Land price pressures signal policy failure. The data should prompt a number of Queensland Councils to review their … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast, Housing, Mackay | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Heritage protection imposing high costs

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The head of the Financial Stability Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia, Luci Ellis, delivered an excellent speech last week on Space and Stability: Some reflections on the Housing-Finance System. In the speech she observed: The cumulation of individual … Continue reading →

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Senate inquiry should consider impact of heritage protection on housing affordability

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I was pleased to see the Queensland Government note, in its submission (available on the submissions page) to the Federal Senate Inquiry into Affordable Housing in Australia, that “local government must be more responsive and flexible if improved housing affordability is to … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Good pick up in home loans in Qld over 2013

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I agree with MacroBusiness’s assessment (New home finance takes a breather) that the number of loans for the construction or purchase of new houses, which is linked closely with the health of the building industry, picked up in Queensland over … Continue reading →

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Good news for Qld building industry as new apartment approvals surge

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Conditions will certainly improve in the Queensland building industry over 2014 as residential building approvals continue to recover (see first chart below based on the new ABS data), although we shouldn’t get too excited yet because the recovery appears to … Continue reading →

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Grattan joins fight against stamp duty

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Leading Australian think tank the Grattan Institute has joined the fight against stamp duty on property transactions (see Renovating housing policy and Jessica Irvine’s article). Grattan notes (on p.32): Stamp duty and pension asset tests create large disincentives to households … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Labour market, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Housing outlook improving

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday’s building approvals data from the ABS should be encouraging for the Queensland building industry because they signal a recovery in housing construction, just as approvals of new apartment stock are declining. Approvals of private houses are trending upwards (first … Continue reading →

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