Strategic Property Group managing director Trent Fleskens said new land releases were expected this year in Henley Brook, Anketell, Alkimos, Eglinton, Yanchep, Beeliar, Hammond Park and Hilbert.

He said there was always land to develop, but the key issue was whether it was serviced by sewerage and power infrastructure.

“By and large, if we are only relying on land development to service our city’s demand for housing, we are certainly going to run out way before the next tracts of developable land can be brought online,” Fleskens said.

“The expediting of scheme amendments and rezoning in the East Wanneroo precinct is probably the most effective way to open up more land that is ready to be carved up adjacent to existing communities.

“Hard work is already being done by leaders at DPLH and the City of Wanneroo to push this through, but they need all the help they can get.”

Steinbeck said while construction cost inflation had eased, construction sector capacity remained another key challenge, with skilled migration hampered by federal government migration settings that impacted both the housing and civil construction providers.

Loading

“The WA housing construction market has the capacity to produce around 16,000 new dwellings a year at present,” she said.

“With a National Housing Accord target of at least 24,000 per year over the next five years for WA, construction sector capacity needs to be front and centre as part of the conversation about how we increase supply quickly.”

UDIA WA figures also showed investors are looking west to make the most of affordable housing options, representing a 37 per cent market share in new land sales for the December 2023 quarter.

The property body has made several recommendations to the state government in the lead up to the 2024-25 budget release in May to get more new housing supply into the forward pipeline.

“We have a focus on boosting supply across the on continuum, so that includes new land in new areas along with supporting more medium and high-density development in infill locations,” Steinbeck said.

Other items in its submission to boost housing supply include prioritising the identification and release of state government land that is feasible for new housing supply, making permanent the off-the-plan transfer duty concession and removing the foreign buyers’ surcharge.

Read more

The Perth suburbs where negative gearing is going through the roof