Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW (UDIA NSW) expresses ongoing concern at today’s Australian Bureau of Statistics data, which show we may still not have hit the bottom when it comes to housing supply NSW.
Today’s data shows 44,900 new building approvals were issued across NSW in the 12 months to April 2025. This is a 2% decline on the previous year and well below the 12-month historic peak of over 76,700 approvals recorded September 2016.
Building approvals remain our best indicator for future supply. However, given the lag time between approvals and completions, and NSW’s housing target of 377,000 new homes by 2029, NSW housing approvals will have to exceed the historic peak of 76,700 if we are any chance of meeting the National Housing Accord targets.
To achieve the Accord target, each typology needs to be delivering close to or above its historical annual peak achieved between 2016-18. The figures below show that every category is underperforming, with only medium density typologies (townhouses, semi-detached dwellings and <3-storey apartments) improving over the last 12 months.
“Today’s data is worrying and shows our building activity numbers could still have further to fall. With no clear evidence that the NSW Government’s ambitious infill apartment agenda has seen any market response, it’s time to lean in and do more to support feasible housing projects,” said UDIA NSW CEO, Stuart Ayres.
“This must include a greater focus to support detached housing in greenfield areas where demand is strong, but a lack of infrastructure is holding back supply.”
UDIA again calls on the NSW Government to use the upcoming budget to commit to greater infrastructure investment that supports and enables more homes to be built. This investment should be made directly into critical enabling infrastructure, including water, sewer and power, and by providing seed funding to support a works in kind policy to allow developers to undertake some of this work.
“Homes need infrastructure, and the Government must invest more into infrastructure, or the housing supply crisis will continue. Our research shows there are over 80,000 new homes that can be unlocked in greenfield areas with the right infrastructure investment. The time to act is now,” Mr Ayres added.
| NSW Building Approvals | Detached Houses | Medium Density | High Density (Apartments) | Total |
| Approvals to April 2025 (12-Monthly) | 21,800 | 10,700 | 12,400 | 44,900 |
| Annual Change | -4% | +8% | -4% | -2% |
| Difference from Peak | -32% | -22% | -67% | -41% |
Source: UDIA NSW; ABS
ENDS