NSW HOUSING APPROVALS STILL AT ALL-TIME HIGHS

Housing approvals in NSW have continued at near-record highs according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data, in a further sign the NSW Government’s commitment to boost housing supply is delivering results.

Official data released today showed approvals in NSW reached 75,074 in the year to February 2017, remaining close to all-time record levels.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the increase in NSW of 12.6% over the year to February 2017 represented the fastest pace of growth across all states, with approvals in the rest of Australia declining by 12.5% over the same period.

“Today’s data shows annual housing approvals have more than doubled since the Liberal-National Government took office in 2011,” Mr Perrottet said.

“We have said one of our priorities is to get more houses on the market, and we are delivering on that promise, month after month.

“Not only is this vital to tackling housing affordability, it also means more jobs for NSW workers with a growing pipeline of construction, and reflects the great strength of our economy here in NSW.”

Minister for Planning and Housing, Anthony Roberts, said the Government’s reforms to streamline and simplify the planning system were bolstering the impressive results.

“These figures are clear evidence our priorities of cutting red tape and making the approval process simpler and faster is working,” Mr Roberts said.

“In response to the record level of residential activity, we are building the necessary infrastructure to go with these new homes and creating vibrant communities close to transport, entertainment and green space.”

In a further sign of the NSW economy’s strength, the ABS also released data today showing strong retail spending growth over the year to February. Spending in NSW increased by 3.3% – almost 1 percentage point more than the rest of Australia.

This marks the 43^rd consecutive month that the annual growth in retail trade in NSW has risen faster than the rest of the nation.