The recent dwelling commencement figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that Tasmania’s new home building industry outperformed all other states and territories during the 2017- 2018 period.

Total dwelling commencements in the state rose by 29.4% in 2017/18, marking the strongest increase among all the states and territories.

Both the detached house and multi-unit segments of the market recorded improvements, with starts in detached house jumping 30.3% and starts for multi-unit segments hiking 25.4%.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) Executive Director Rick Sassin acknowledged the shift, saying it was a “strong result” for the state.

He also noted the positive outcome for approvals, which implies a healthy pipeline of new home building activity for the rest of the current financial year.

What’s more remarkable is that Tasmania was able to rise above the weakening home building across Australia.

Hence, it was not surprising that the strength of home building in Tasmania has been a major part of the state’s wider economic success.

As an ending, HIA highlighted the importance of the housing sector in the development of the nation. “This strength in the industry should not be taken for granted. All governments must continue to support the housing industry and improve on the state’s housing and planning policies to enable ongoing and sustainable growth in Tasmania’s residential building sector and wider economy,” Sassin said.

“At this most critical stage of state council elections, all parties need to show Tasmanians how they are reducing red tape and improving planning and building approvals processes to ensure for the continued health of our industry.”

Less than a month ago, the HIA Housing Scorecard also showed that Tasmania registered strong results in areas of new detached home growth and emerging first homebuyers market.