The fastest state for home building in Australia – realestate.com.au

A new analysis has found one state is leading the way, with housing increases in just nine months.

Queensland is Australia’s fastest state in building new homes, with construction taking an average of 9.15 months from approval to completion, according to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).

Victoria ranked second at 9.78 months, followed by Tasmania (11.85 months), New South Wales (12.30 months), South Australia (13.71 months) and Western Australia at 15.45 months.

Nationally, construction takes 11.49 months from approval to completion.

The IPA analysis examined ABS construction activity data, which tracks how many homes begin and end construction over quarterly periods. The data ending in June 2025 was used to estimate the total construction time, from approval to commencement and then from commencement to completion.

Across Australia, the time from approval to commencement in 2025 averaged 2.28 months, while the time from commencement to completion averaged 9.21 months.

According to the IPA, the time it takes to build a house has increased by an average of 34% between 2020 and 2025, due to rising costs for building materials and labor.

“Over the past decade, Australia has experienced demand-driven cost increases for construction materials and labor driven by large, inefficient government projects, creating the perfect storm of rising prices and rents, especially in the post-pandemic period,” said IPA senior fellow Dr Kevin You.

But analysis from Master Builders Australia shows that construction timelines based on 2024-2025 data are improving compared to the previous year.

Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett said detached houses, terraced houses and apartments all saw shorter construction times from approval to completion.

“Townhouses typically took 14.8 months to complete (five weeks less), while condo construction took 32.9 months during 2024-2025,” Garrett said.

“For detached homes, there was 11.5 months between approval and delivery.

“This is due to continued relief in supply chain pressures and a gentle decline in labor shortages.”

Queensland is the fastest state in housing construction; it takes an average of 9.15 months between approval and delivery. Photo: Getty

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Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, said the figures were encouraging, but stressed the need for continued action.

“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,” Ms Wawn said.

“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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