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Housing Report Card, scores a D minus

HIA, Australia's largest building industry association, today released the nation's most comprehensive report card on the residential sector. » More

Affordability Remains at 24 Year Low

First home buyer housing affordability barely improved in June, languishing at a 24 year low. The HIA-CBA First Home Buyer Affordability Index inched up by just 0.3 per cent during the June 2008 quarter to still be 6 per cent lower than a year earlier. » More

Soft Home Lending Highlights Rate Cut Imperative

HIA, Australia's largest building industry association, said that home lending for both owner occupiers and investors continued to slide in June. » More

Housing Shortage To Get Worse In 2008

Building approvals weakened further in June, following a big drop in May, to reach their lowest level since the end of 2006. » More

New Home Sales Highlight Urgency of Housing Reform

New home sales increased moderately in June but were effectively flat over the first half of 2008. » More

VET System Failing Residential Construction Industry

The latest HIA-Austral Bricks Trades Report confirms that labour shortages persist despite failing activity, suggesting that urgent reform is needed to the vocational education and training (VET) system to avoid a future skills crunch. » More

THE GEN Y STORY: Living at Home Till Thirty

The number of young Australians living at home is on the rise. Updated figures show the lack of affordable housing is locking Generation Y out of the housing market. » More

Monetary Policy Overcooked

Home lending for owner occupier housing weakened across the board in May. » More

Queensland Drags Building Approvals Down in May

Building approvals fell in May, the third fall in the five months worth of updates for 2008. » More

Further Weakening For New Home Sales

New home sales fell in May following a steady month in April » More

Weak First Quarter For Housing Starts

The poor run of housing numbers continued with housing starts for the March quarter down 3.3 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis. » More

Modest Rise for Construction Finance

The number of loans for construction of owner occupier dwellings increased moderately in April. » More

Better Month For Building Approvals

Following a dreadful first quarter in 2008, building approvals increased 7.8 per cent in April, offering some signs of improvement which will assist in pegging underlying demand for housing. » More

Flat Start To June Qtr For New Home Sales

New home sales failed to recover from a very weak first quarter of 2008. » More

Drop In Affordability, Reform Now Urgent

The HIA-CBA First Home Buyer Affordability Index fell by 3.5 per cent during the quarter to be more than 10 per cent lower than a year ago. » More

Housing Finance Drops Sharply in March

Housing finance for both owner occupiers and investors is continuing to buckle under the weight of higher borrowing costs and high property taxes and charges » More

Building Approvals Confirm Worsening Housing Shortage

Building approvals dropped in the month of March and were also down significantly over the quarter. » More

Drop In Activity Yet Skills Shortages Remain

The latest HIA-Austral Bricks Trades Report highlights a continuation in the shortage of skilled labour despite a decline in building activity. » More

Tailored Market Research

Australia’s building product markets are undergoing enormous change. Imported products, technological advances and substitute materials are transforming Australian renovations, new-homes and apartments and the way that Australian builders and tradespeople buy and specify their building products.

Senior managers, responsible for the sales and marketing of building products, face significant challenges in ensuring that they understand the purchasing behaviour of builders and anticipate market trends - before they destroy bottom line performance and shareholder value.

How can you and your team stay ahead of aggressive competitors? How do you know that you are still relevant to an increasingly competitive and complex customer base? How will you ensure that you extract the maximum return from your sales and marketing investment?

HIA Economics Group has first class credentials in the design, execution, analysis and presentation of tailored market research into Australia's residential building industry. Our in-depth knowledge and experience can help you identify business opportunities and create a framework for successful decision making.

Our Expertise:

All HIA research is conducted and delivered by our team of research professionals with specialised industry and methodological expertise. Our team has extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative research that generates information insights into the industry’s attitudes and purchasing behaviour.

Our Advantage:

Our unique advantage comes from our comprehensive membership database of over 30,000 industry professionals in the fields of:

  • trade subcontracting;
  • small, medium and large volume house builders;
  • apartment builders;
  • extension and renovation builders; and
  • building materials manufacturers, suppliers and distributors.

HIA members carry out in excess of 80 per cent of Australia ’s residential building work and are a true representative sample when measuring industry activity, attitudes, decision making and future trends.

Our Methods:

From brief, cost effective online-surveys to comprehensive industry-wide research on a company by company basis, HIA Economics Group can tailor research to client’s needs and budgets. Specific groups within HIA’s membership can be targeted according to location, size, type of work or the industry sector in which they operate.

Our Clients:

Our recent clients include:

  • AGL
  • Austral Bricks
  • Australand
  • Boral Building Products
  • Carter Holt Harvey
  • CSR
  • Landcom
  • The Australian Window Association
  • The Copper Development Centre
  • Whirlpool

For an obligation free quote on your next market research project, please contact us at economics@hia.com.au or Harley Dale on (02) 6245 1393

 

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