New homes starts rise 7%, but Australia remains behind housing target

Detached house building has given Australia’s housing pipeline a lift, but the industry cautions the nation remains well behind the pace needed to deliver 1.2 million homes by mid-2029. New home commencements rose 7% in the June quarter, driven by a lift in detached house building, according to the latest seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS releases building activity data each quarter, tracking the number of homes that commence construction and are completed. New home starts rose 7% in the 2026 June quarter. Picture: GettyWith Australia working towards building 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029 under the National Housing Accord, the data is a timely indicator of how the sector is trailing. For the June quarter, covering April, May and June, the number of detached houses commencing construction rose 11.6% to 31,707. This followed a 1.3% fall in the March quarter. Meanwhile, commencements of apartments, townhouses, semi-detached homes and row terraces — collectively known as private sector other residential dwellings — fell 0.1% to 19,126 homes. This followed a 20.6% fall in the March quarter. The number of homes completed rose 5.8% to 47,...