GENERAL NEWS
CONSTRUCTION costs are expected to remain “stubbornly” elevated until at least 2027, according to WT’s latest Australian Construction Market Conditions Report, although a recovery in...
WT’s three-year base-case outlook includes a forecast of an average cost increase of around 5.5% in 2024 across capital city markets for building, remaining above...
Our base-case outlook is for recovery in construction activity and the broader economy to become quite apparent by 2026. This would make the necessary and overdue increase in...
However, labour remains the most pivotal input to cost escalation, with the outcome of recent enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations in the larger states to...
Australia has just recorded its worst 12 months for new home builds in a decade and experts are calling for more action on labour shortages that...
Roast said the most likely implications and risks to the outlook include that housing for key workers – which includes construction workers – remains difficult to secure, costly or...
WT said it expects to see elevated escalation through the remainder of 2024 and well into 2025 due to construction activity, with record or near-record levels of work under construction...
Lingering supply chain pressures are also a factor, with freight costs having this year, albeit off a low base, while there has been an ongoing global shortage of electrical components since...
China’s recent track record of fast progress as a sophisticated producer of electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy equipment suggests it could provide escalation relief via...
Brisbane to see highest building cost escalations
With heated competition expected for labour and resources in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Brisbane is expected to see the...
The Gold Coast will be similarly impacted, with the increasingly robust activity pipeline for also stretching availability of resources to deliver projects across all sectors...
Sydney will see escalation remain stubborn due to increased unionisation of trades, the ongoing impact of regulation, strength in sectors such as health and transport, and the risk of...
Likewise, Melbourne is seeing the impact of regulation and the attraction of skills to local infrastructure projects and to opportunities north of the border...
Meanwhile, escalation is expected to remain high in Hobart, though uneven across sectors. In major projects, escalation is likely to rise further, particularly where trades are on...