Australia’s housing crisis could be getting a whole lot worse, with experts warning building costs could skyrocket over 30 per cent in the next four years.
NSW Master Builders Association Executive Director, Brian Seidler, told Today companies are facing increasing financial pressures and will have to pass those increased costs onto their customers.
“If you talk to the developers, the private sector is saying it costs too much to build, product prices, material prices are plateauing, but the cost to actually bring them to market is also increasing because of the cost of energy,” he said.
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“So we say it’s best to build as soon as possible, but if you’re thinking about hanging around and not making a decision, those costs will only increase.”
While four years is the current estimate on how long building prices will continue to climb, Brian said Australia is looking at a projected 1.2 million new property builds over the next five years.
“All of the indicators are we’re going to have further increases and unfortunately, as we have to now build 1.2 million homes over the next five years, 377,000 in in NSW, everybody’s after the labour,” he said.
“But labour costs are going up, realistically there’ll be houses built, but whether or not we attain the number forecast, that is the question.”
Hear more of our chat with Brian in the video above