Victoria recorded its highest-ever number of building permits and highest-ever value of building work in a year during the 12 months to 30 June 2018.
Victorian Building Authority (VBA) data shows that a record 114,803 building permits, for building work valued at $38.4 billion, were reported across the state in the 2017-18 financial year.
At $38.4 billion, the value of building work during the 12 months was 17.3 per cent higher than the $32.8 billion recorded in the previous financial year. The previous highest number of building permits in a financial year was 113,669 reported in 2009-10, one per cent fewer than this year’s total.
The 2017-18 data shows the cost of building work reported in all building use categories was higher than that reported for the categories in 2016-17. In the Domestic (houses) category, the cost of work reported was a record $19.8 billion, 14.4 per cent higher than the previous financial year and the number of permits jumped by 4.7 per cent to 94,412.
The cost of work reported in the Residential category (including apartments) also rose during the financial year to $6.5 billion, up 22.4 per cent on the 2016-17 financial year. The two building use categories with the strongest growth in the cost of works reported were Public Buildings (up 29.7 per cent on 2016-17) and Hospital and Healthcare (up 26.9 per cent).
For the second financial year in a row, percentage growth year-on-year by value of building permits reported in Rural Victoria outstripped that in Metropolitan Melbourne. Gippsland led the growth in the Rural region, with the value of building permits reported jumping almost 27.5 per cent from the previous year.
On a municipality basis, the value of building permits reported in the City of Melbourne in 2017-18 increased by 44.5 per cent compared with 2016-17, while in the City of Greater Geelong the increase year-on-year was 28 per cent. A total of 12 municipalities reported building permit activity of more than $1 billion during the 12 months, with 11 of these in Metropolitan Melbourne.