New building approvals data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today has once again painted a concerning picture of the nation’s housing crisis.

Master Builders Australia Chief Economist Shane Garrett said March was the worst month for new detached house approvals since July 2012 – almost 12 years ago.

“There was a small gain (+1.9 per cent) in approvals for higher-density homes during the month, but we need to see more growth in this sector of the market.

“The results mean that just 161,500 new homes have been approved over the past year.”

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn added: “These figures stand in sharp contrast to the yearly target of 240,000 new homes under the National Housing Accord.

“The Accord takes effect in less than two months’ time, and if we are going to have any chance of meeting this target, we need to lift new home building by 50 per cent from current levels over the next five years.

“Despite the will of governments to get home-building activity moving, there are still too many obstacles in our way.

“Chronic tradie shortages, planning and licensing delays, draconian industrial relations changes, material cost inflation, inefficient regulation, unfeasible lending practices and risk allocation are making projects unsustainable.

“We have to make it easier to build new homes by bringing down the cost of construction. This must be a priority in the upcoming Federal Budget.”