Housing to continue to drive growth
The strong performance of the housing industry looks set to continue into the first half of 2002 according to the Housing Industry Association , commenting on ABS statistics released today that show a rise of 11.7 percent in dwelling commencements in the three months to December 2001, over the previous quarter.
Ruth Morschel, HIA’s executive director of public affairs, says that a combination of work in the pipeline and improving business and consumer confidence has the industry on track to achieve 150,000 starts for this financial year, which represents a 30 percent improvement on 12 months ago.
On a state by state basis, the biggest rise in commencements occurred in the ACT, up 45.1 percent, followed by NSW, up 36.5 percent, Tasmania, up 34.9 percent, South Australia, up 12.2 percent and Western Australia, up 6.3 percent. Falls were recorded in Victoria, down 4.8 percent and Queensland, down 4.2 percent.
Source: Building Products News.
19-Mar-2002