Construction industry Australia
The Australian construction industry had a very good year in 2012. Growth ranged between 11.3 and 13.7% depending on the branch, although housing construction registered negative results.
Market development/demand
The Australian construction industry can be very satisfied with 2012. The Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS reports 13.7% growth for the sector, while the Australian Constructors Association talks about 11.3%. In the current year 2013, the construction industry is not set to grow as strongly as in the previous year, but will still show an impressive gain with a forecast 6.3%. In the coming year, the experts in the Constructors Association are still expecting another 5.5% growth. Driver for growth in the construction industry was especially construction for heavy industry, while the second most important segment was construction work in the telecommunications sector. According to the ABS, especially housing construction suffered negative growth with –3.9% while commercial construction reported –3.3%.
Although the forecasts for housing construction all over Australia are not very encouraging, some major projects are planned in the country’s two big cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Some market watchers are expecting a real building boom in Sydney in the next three to four years. So, according to a current study by BIS Shrapnel, new investments in the construction sector in New South Wales are set to grow from 39.5 bill. $A in mid-2013 to 48.6 bill. $A by mid-2017. A big part of this will go to Sydney.
