Despite the Labor Government’s emphatic election win, there doesn’t appear to be much light on the horizon for new home building at the moment in the great southern land.

A recent study by the Housing Industry Assocation (HIA) actually shows the opposite, with labour shortages leading to chronic delays to starts of new homes nationwide.

The recently-released HIA Trades Report provides a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and any demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry.

“Australia has just seen its two weakest years of new home commencements in over a decade, meaning these ongoing shortages of skilled trades are not being caused by home building activity,” HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon said.

“Despite the low volume of home building, skills shortages are persisting on the back of labour demands from other construction sectors and the wider economy,” he added.

Mr Reardon said that, excluding the extremes of the pandemic, such poor figures would go back to before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of the late 2000s to find trades shortages as acute as they are now.

“Home building is set to gain momentum across Australia as interest rates fall, and this will further add to demand for skilled labour.

“The shortage of skilled trades across Australia persists in every capital city and region; an increase in home building will further add to demand for skilled labour and put further upward pressure on labour prices,” Mr Reardon believes.

Despite the expected increase in home building after the rate cuts, commencements will remain well below those necessary to achieve 1.2 million homes over five years.

“The result of these shortages is that the price of trades has increased again by 5.5 per cent in the 12 months to March, 2025, compared to the broader Australian wage growth closer to 3 per cent.

“Reforms to skilled migration, including a dedicated construction visa, are needed to attract skilled tradespeople from overseas during cyclical peaks in activity.

Of the 166,830 temporary skilled workers (Visa Subclass 482) in Australia at the end of 2024, only 4229 were in home-building trade occupations, he revealed.

“Over the medium-to-long term, a domestic workforce development strategy is required that promotes careers in construction to students, recent leavers, and Australians more broadly, male and female, young and old.

“Greater support is also needed for apprentices, the public and private organisations that train them, and the businesses that provide them with supervision and on-site experience,” Mr Reardon concluded.