Housing growth ‘not confined’ to major cities: HIA

The Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) annual Population and Residential Building Hotspots report details Australia’s top 20 housing market hotspots.

According to the association, a hotspot is an area that has population growth of more than the 1.4 per cent national average during 2015/2016 and a minimum of $150-million worth of residential construction approved over the same period.

Topping the list was Pimpama, a Queensland suburb in the northern Gold Coast, with more than $340 million worth of residential building improved and an annual population growth rate of 35.1 per cent.

Second place was taken by the Cobbitty-Leppington area in NSW, with a population growth rate of 27.6 per cent, while the Northern Territory’s Palmerston – South made the top three with a population growth rate of 26.4 per cent.

With nine positions in the top 20, NSW occupied nearly half of the list; however, the Victorian suburb of Southbank boasted the highest investment in residential building, with more than $1.06 billion worth of residential building approved.

HIA senior economist Shane Garrett commented: “With 2016 representing a record year for new home building activity across Australia, the housing industry has been supporting economic activity in localities up and down the country.”

He added that housing was not confined to the major capitals, and that regional Australia was also “peppered with housing hotspots”.

“In terms of its economic contribution, the housing industry is truly unique,” Mr Garrett said.

He highlighted that the report also identified 86 separate areas in every state and territory across Australia where residential building activity is “acting as the engine of economic activity, employment and development.

“Small businesses are particular beneficiaries of housing activity,” he said.

[Related: Treasury sounds alarm on ‘risky’ housing market]