Build Cost Prediction.

In Home Build Mentoring, we rely on the data from the ABS- Australian Bureau of Statistics to understand where construction costs have been.  Although there are other cost resources, I find the ABS data to be most reflective of changes. 

New data from the ABS is due out later this month. I’m going to have a stab at what I predict the change will be for ‘House Construction Australia’.  

The sequence for the last five quarters has been 1.1%, 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.3% and 1.0% consecutively.  Optimistically- I predict the next increase for Q2 of 2024 will be about 0.8%.  Graphed, that increase would look like this- 

Between 2016 & 2020, the rate of increase experienced each quarter was about 0.5%, mostly aligned with inflation.  

While I’d like to say that the trend will continue to drop, and we will start experiencing a steadier increase more akin to the 0.5% of years gone past, I fear that it will take longer than we hope.  

In the coming quarters, the introduction of the mandated 7-Star and Living Housing Requirements will likely hinder the slowing of increase as homes designed after the 1st May 2024 start landing on the desks of building surveyors for building permit approval.  The implications of these introductions have not yet been tested or felt.  

But its important to remember, construction costs for your project needn’t be feared.  While they are significantly higher than experienced pre-2021, the cost of your build project can be predicted and protected when we factor in the likely timing, size, style and structural complexity of your future home.