Home building approvals are gathering pace, but delivery is under the microscope

More homes are going up across Australia, but industry bodies say there is still a significant gap.

New seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 48,778 dwellings were started in the September 2025 quarter.

This figure is 6.6% higher than in the June quarter and up 11.6% over the past 12 months.

According to the data, the increase was largely driven by new homes, which rose 6.9% to 28,485, following a 4.9% decline in the June quarter. Other dwellings rose 3.5% to 18,747 in the September quarter.

Under the National Housing Accord, Australia has a target of delivering 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029. To meet this goal, the nation needs to start building about 240,000 houses each year.

In the first 15 months of the Agreement, 230,658 new homes were built across Australia, according to analysis from Master Builders Australia. This represents a shortfall of approximately 69,000 homes at the current rate.

But the latest preliminary figures could show strong growth across the construction industry, following recent approvals reaching a four-year high.

According to housing minister Clare O’Neil, housing starts in the quarter are now 17.2% higher than at the start of the National Housing Accord in mid-2024.

“Houses are starting to turn the corner, as houses are being built, more tools are being built, and eventually Australian homes are being built,” Ms O’Neil said.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) said the results would point to steady, rather than rapid, growth across the industry, particularly in apartment building.

“These are positive signs that confirm our expectation that the number of housing starts will see steady, not explosive, growth over the next few years,” said HIA chief economist Maurice Tapang.

“This growth is expected to come from the resurgence of apartment construction. Apartment construction is still far below the volume of construction that started ten years ago and is one of the keys to increasing apartment construction.”

Completion is still delayed

Despite the increase in starts, industry bodies say Australia is not completing enough homes.

In the September 2025 quarter, 44,242 residential units were completed, down 1.2% from the June quarter. In the first 15 months of the Agreement, 218,974 new homes were completed across the country.

The Property Council of Australia said the focus now needed to shift to delivery.

“We are now on track to complete five of the 20 sectors within the Accord period and it is clear that we need a change in delivery by 2026 to reach the target,” said Property Council of Policy and Advocacy group chief executive Matthew Kandelaars.

“Currently Australia needs an average of about 64,000 new homes every quarter – we managed about 70% of that target in the September 2025 quarter so there is still a lot of work to do.

“It takes more than a year to build a detached home and often more than three years to bring an apartment project from start to finish. That’s why the slow quarter today can lock in the deficit years from now, without drastic action.”

These comments come at a time when governments across the country are trying to increase the supply of housing in different parts of the country.

In September 2025, the NSW government introduced the Pre-Sale Finance Guarantee, which allows the state to commit to buying up to 50% of approved homes in off-plan developments, valued at up to $2 million each.

Support under the program can range from $5 million to $50 million per project, with the first announced development being part of the $285 million Rozelle Village project.

The guarantee supports 32 affordable homes outside the scheme if the relevant sales requirements are not met before the project’s expected completion in 2028.

According to the state government, 31 expressions of interest have been sent across NSW, and about a third have been invited to submit full applications.

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