Australia promised 1.2 million new homes, but builders are at their limits
SYDNEY: In the Australian city of Brisbane, builder Jay Perham has been forced to pour concrete at a new housing site during the night, unable to find workers for the job when the sun is up.
Brisbane, the host city of the 2032 Olympic Games, is grappling with a shortage of construction workers, forcing builders to work at night under harsh conditions. This labor shortage, coupled with high costs of materials, labor, and finance, has led to delays in new home construction, undermining the Australian government's pledge to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
Official data shows that completed home construction is 27 percent below the average 60,000 dwellings needed per quarter to meet the target. The bottlenecks are particularly severe in Sydney, Australia's most expensive housing market. Builders argue that while recent government reforms have helped cool the housing market, they have not addressed the core supply constraints.
The industry faces a workforce shortage, regulatory hurdles, and rising costs, leading to longer construction times and more expensive homes. Despite recent declines in property prices, builders maintain that the industry's capacity is at its limit and that more needs to be done to boost construction numbers.
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