 Tuesday, 11 Dec 2012After six months of decline, new housing activity increased by 4 per cent in the September quarter. |
| Friday, 8 Jun 2012 |
| Friday, 30 Mar 2012 |
| Thursday, 15 Dec 2011 |
| Wednesday, 5 Oct 2011 |
Friday, 15 Jul 2011• Two key drivers of housing demand remain weak –population growth is slowing and consumer confidence fell sharply in July. Lending for housing, however, has picked up in Victoria, bucking the national trend
• Dwelling prices have been easing and the affordability of housing has increased: significantly in New South Wales and Western Australia but only slightly in Victoria
• Although they have been slowing, Victorian dwelling approvals are likely to have increased by about 5 per cent to nearly 60,000 in 2010/11. They are forecast to fall by about 10 per cent in the year ahead.
• Non-residential building approvals increased slightly in the first two months of the June quarter. But there is still no upturn in private sector approvals and activity is forecast to fall by 8 per cent in 2011/12 |
Friday, 20 May 2011• Main drivers of housing demand – population growth, affordability and consumer confidence are all trending downward
• We are forecasting that dwelling starts in Victoria will increase from 54,480 in 2009-10 to 57,400 this year, but fall to 52,400 in 2011-12 and to 50,000 in 2012-13
• With the slowdown in public spending on the Building the Education Revolution (BER), non-residential building activity is forecast to ease slightly in this financial year and fall sharply in 2011-12
• Nationally, credit for housing is growing at the historically low rate of less than 10 per cent a year |
| Monday, 16 Nov 2009Welcome to Master Builders last Economy Watch for 2009! The economy has started to recover during the latter part of 2009. However, times are still tough for a number of Victorian builders – particularly General Contractors and Specialist Contractors. |
 Monday, 11 May 2009Over the past few months, the Australian economy has slowed sharply. During the December quarter, the Australian economy contracted 0.5 per cent representing the first negative quarter since December 2000. |
| Thursday, 26 Feb 20092008 was a difficult year for the local and global economy. After months of rumour and speculation, the first impacts of the US SubPrime finally hit, causing havoc across financial markets throughout the world. |
| Monday, 17 Nov 20082008 has been a volatile year for Australia’s economy and financial markets as the effects of the US SubPrime meltdown have reverberated across the world. In this edition of Economy Watch, we will focus on all the factors which have affected the Victorian building industry in 2008. |
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2008Welcome to this special edition of Economy Watch aimed at keeping members up to date on the major shifts in the world economy of recent days. Below are some key areas for members to be aware of.
US Bail-out Package Stalls - The US Congress overnight failed to pass a US$700 billion (AUD$840 billion) rescue package for struggling US lenders. It was hoped the bail-out package would have introduced liquidity to the lending market making borrowing cheaper for banks, which would then pass on those savings to customers. |
| Wednesday, 17 Sep 2008Welcome to this special edition of Economy Watch aimed at keeping members up to date on the major shifts in the world economy of recent days. Outlined below are some key areas members should keep abreast of. |
Tuesday, 29 Jul 2008Welcome to the first edition of Economy Watch, Master Builders new quarterly economic newsletter!
Economy Watch aims to provide members with an overview of the Australian and global economic environment, focusing on how different developments in these areas affect the Victorian building sector.
Outlined below is a short overview of the key factors (good and bad) affecting builders during 2008-09. We hope it is of value to your business. Please enjoy! |
| Tuesday, 17 Jul 2007Builder activity strengthens as Residential begins to turn |
 Thursday, 1 Sep 2005Activity still strong, builders’ confidence buoyant. |
| Wednesday, 1 Jun 2005Builder activity holding up but outlook for industry activity falls. |
| Thursday, 3 Mar 2005Builder activity beginning to slow, confidence holding up for now. |