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Southbank growth alive

Southbank growth alive

By Niccola Anthony

Southbank has been named as a ‘hotspot’ in the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) 2018 report on Population and Residential Building Hotspots.

The report identifies Australia’s fastest growing towns, cities and regions for the 2016/17 financial year. Hotspots are defined as areas currently enjoying “a combination of strong population growth as well as high levels of residential building”.

For an area to qualify as a hotspot, there must be more than $150 million worth of residential building work approved in the financial year and the area’s rate of population growth must be greater than the national average.

Southbank scraped onto this year’s list, coming in at 19th out of the National Top 20 Building and Population Hotspots.

In the past financial year, the Southbank area saw more than $400 million worth of residential building works approved, and experienced an annual population growth rate of 8.6 per cent.

The HIA hailed the 2018 Hotspots Report as a “tale of one city,” noting the unprecedented interest and growth in the Melbourne area over the 2016/17 financial year compared with the national average.

“Last year’s census unearthed 144,000 more residents in Melbourne than was previously known. They have been drawn to Melbourne by the prospects of employment arising from a building boom, significant infrastructure projects and growing services sector,” the report’s summary states.

“With a large volume of work still to be commenced, no downturn evident in approvals, and population growth still exceeding 2 per cent, Melbourne and its surrounding areas are still likely to produce many Hotspots for building activity going into 2019.”

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