New data reveals dramatic shift in home construction times in Australia – realestate.com.au

After years of crippling delays and a housing market held hostage to construction bottlenecks, a seismic shift is underway on Australia’s construction sites.

In a long-awaited victory for frustrated homebuyers, new data shows that the painful wait for a newly built home is finally decreasing in a decisive way.

Master Builders Australia’s latest analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirms a tangible and significant reduction in the time it takes to complete homes.

Townhouses are now completed five weeks faster, with the typical construction time dropping to 14.8 months.

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For apartments, traditionally the slowest, the construction time has fallen to 32.9 months in the period 2024-2025, while detached houses now have a gap of 11.5 months between approval and delivery.

“This is due to continued easing of supply chain pressures and a gentle easing of labor shortages,” said Shane Garrett, chief economist at Master Builders Australia.

“However, there is still a long way to go as construction times are much slower than before the pandemic.

“Building a new detached house is now 35.8 percent slower than it was a decade ago. Delays on the higher density side are even worse: it takes 54.1 percent longer to build a new apartment, while the rate at which new townhouses are delivered is declining by 27.6 percent.”

Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, called the data a “step in the right direction” but stressed that complacency is not an option.

“We recognize the government’s ongoing efforts to solve Australia’s housing crisis through planning reform, investment and workforce initiatives, but more work is needed to maintain this momentum and deliver the homes our communities need,” she said.

“These positive developments are overshadowed by the revelation this week that Australia faces a 60,971 shortfall in new homes during the first year of the National Housing Agreement.

“With construction times moving in the right direction and supply chains becoming smoother since Covid, we need to tackle other challenges to deliver more housing, including increasing the skilled workforce through more apprentices, encouraging more women to enter the industry, and adapting migration settings to address key skills shortages.

“Houses won’t get off the ground without the people who build them and without the implementation of regulatory and planning reforms to increase productivity.”

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Source: Master Builders Australia

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The confidence of project developers has increased, says lender

Mark Greenberg, founder of non-bank lender Lambert Capital, said confidence among Australian property developers has increased in recent months.

stabilizing construction costs, stronger demand from end buyers and renewed activity in the key sector

markets help turn sentiment around.

“We are seeing more questions and a more positive attitude from both developers and…

end buyers,” he said.

“Developers who had paused projects are now feeling more confident as construction costs stabilize, allowing them to deliver products with greater certainty that they can sell upfront, hold to sell post-construction or rent out for longer-term investments.”

According to Cotality’s Cordell Construction Index, residential construction costs increased by 0.5 percent between March and June 2025.

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Managing Director of Master Builders Australia, Denita Wawn

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While this pace is still increasing, it is significantly slower than the pre-pandemic average of 1.0 percent per quarter, indicating that construction costs are finally stabilizing after years of rapid growth.

Meanwhile, new home sales (contract-to-build) were at their highest level in three years in August 2025, according to the Housing Industry Association.

“We are mainly seeing renewed demand in more affordable markets such as Victoria and India

Tasmania,” Mr Greenberg said.

“After years of hesitation, the market finally feels like it is moving in the right direction.”