Population growth stokes housing fears
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday March 27, 2010
THE great debate about home shortage was ratcheted up further during the week with the release of population data that indicates there will not be enough homes for people in the medium term.Developers such as Stockland, Mirvac and FKP have consistently warned the state and federal governments more land needs to be made available to accommodate the growing population.According to federal government statistics, Australia's population grew by 451,876 people over the year to September. The 2.09 per cent increase in Australia's population remained just shy of the 40-year high reached in the year to March, following substantial upward revisions to previous data.An economist at CommSec, Savanth Sebastian, said the Australian Bureau of Statistics had found an additional 77,300 people migrated to Australia over the past two years, equivalent to almost the entire population of Bendigo in Victoria."While fast population growth serves to boost economic growth, it also increases the demand on economic and social infrastructure," he said. "Huge infrastructure building is currently under way and Australia's fast population growth should ensure that building remains strong in coming years."The chief executive of Stockland, Matthew Quinn, has warned authorities for years that the country faces a chronic housing shortage.The managing director of developer and funds manager FKP, Peter Brown, shared this view. He said the data showing Australia's population hitting 22 million was more proof the country's home shortage was a major problem.He said FKP had responded to these concerns by weighting its portfolio towards the residential market, increasing the volume of apartments, residential land and retirement options in NSW, Queensland and Victoria."Queensland, for example, has recorded one of the highest rates of population growth of the states and this will no doubt put further pressure on the gap between supply and demand there," he said.Macquarie Equities's property analysts said, from an investment point of view, residential development earnings momentum was strong heading into the second half of the 2009-10 financial year.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
