SYDNEY : Australia's housing industry has a strong pipeline of new work but faces global supply disruptions and rising material costs which are delaying completions and squeezing margins, a top central banker said on Wednesday.
"There is an unusually large pipeline of detached homes that are yet to be completed," Ellis told an urban development conference."All the signs point to the fact that the residential construction industry is at capacity and cannot work down this pipeline any faster." The RBA lifted rates this month for the first time in more than a decade and is widely expected to hike several more times this year as it tackles red-hot inflation.There had also been a pandemic shift toward wanting more space, which had seen the average size of households fall in the last couple of years.
This trend was now reverting back to normal and population trends were expected to return to pre-pandemic patterns by 2024, said Ellis.