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 percent 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 percent 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 percent higher than the previous financial year and the number of permits jumped by 4.7 percent 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 percent 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 percent on 2016-17) and Hospital and Healthcare (up 26.9 percent). 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 percent from the previous year.
The value of building permits by building use category in 2017-18 compared with 2016-17 showed:
Domestic (houses) increased 14.4 percent to $19.8 billion
Residential (including apartments) rose 22.4 percent to $6.5 billion
Commercial increased 13.9 percent to $4.7 billion
Retail rose 17.8 percent to $2.0 billion
Industrial increased 8.8 percent to $668 million
Hospital/Healthcare jumped 26.9 percent to $1.2 billion
Public Buildings increased 29.7 percent to $3.5 billion.
The value of building permits by region in 2017-18 compared with 2016-17 showed:
Inner Melbourne increased 18.0 percent to $17.4 billion
Outer Melbourne increased 15.2 percent to $14.1 billion
Gippsland increased 27.5 percent to $1.1 billion
North Central rose 23.0 percent to $1.2 billion
North East increased 11.4 percent to $933 million
North West increased 17.2 per cent to $1.1 billion
South West increased 20.4 percent to $2.6 billion.
On a municipality basis, the value of building permits reported in the City of Melbourne in 2017-18
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