New South Wales has featured strongly in the ranks of Australia’s fastest growing housing markets which have been revealed in the HIA’s latest Population & Residential Building Hotspots 2017 report, published today.*

“The national Top 20 Hotspots list features no less than nine (45%) areas located in NSW – all of which were in the greater Sydney area,” commented HIA Executive Director for NSW, David Bare.

Based on its performance with respect to residential building approvals and population growth during the 2015/16 year, South West Sydney’s Cobbitty-Leppington area ranks as the State’s number one “hotspot”. It is followed in second place by Riverstone-Marsden Park in the city’s Blacktown area. In third place is Homebush Bay-Silverwater.

“This result underscores the strength of the new housing supply we have experienced in recent years in the greater Sydney area and it is imperative that this supply continues” Mr Bare said.

“However, with latest forecasts predicting a weakening in new housing supply, the NSW Government must remain focussed on implementing policies that drive supply, reduce delivery costs and delays” said Mr Bare.

“There is considerable regulatory burden, both existing and in the process of implementation, that is adding unnecessary costs to new housing in NSW and it is reducing housing affordability at a time when the Government is seeking to achieve just the opposite. The NSW Government needs to address these issues as a priority” concluded Mr Bare.

*A “Hotspot”  is  defined  as  a local area  where population growth exceeds the national rate (which was 1.4 per cent in the year to June 2016) and where the value of residential building work approved is in excess of $150 million.