The fastest state for home building in Australia

New analysis has revealed one state leading the charge, with homes going up in as little as nine months.

Queensland is Australia’s quickest state for building new homes, with construction taking 9.15 months on average from approval to completion, according to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).

Victoria ranked second at 9.78 months, followed by Tasmania (11.85 months), New South Wales (12.30 months), South Australia (13.71 months) and Western Australia at 15.45 months.

Nationally, it takes 11.49 months to build from approval to completion.

The IPA analysis examined ABS building activity data, which tracks how many homes start and finish construction over quarterly periods. The data ending June 2025 was used to estimate total build time from approval to commencement, and then commencement to completion.

Across Australia in 2025, the time from approval to commencement averaged 2.28 months, while the time from commencement to completion averaged 9.21 months.

According to the IPA, the time it takes to build a house has increased by 34% on average between 2020 and 2025, driven by rising costs for construction materials and labour.

Source: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/the-fastest-state-for-home-building-in-australia/

“Over the past decade, Australia has seen demand driven cost increases to construction material and labour, which has been caused by large, inefficient government projects, creating the perfect storm of rising prices and rents, particularly in the post-pandemic period,” IPA senior fellow Dr Kevin You said.

But analysis by Master Builders Australia shows build timelines are improving based on 2024-25 data compared to the previous year.

Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett said detached houses, townhomes and apartments all saw reduced build times from approval to completion.

“Townhouses typically took 14.8 months to complete (down five weeks) while apartments had a 32.9-month build time during 2024-25,” Mr Garrett said.

“For detached houses, there was an 11.5-month gap between approval and completion.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the figures are encouraging but emphasised the need for continued action.

“These positive developments are overshadowed by the revelation this week that Australia is 60,971 short of new houses during the first year of the National Housing Accord,” Ms Wawn said.

“With build times heading in the right direction and supply chains continuing to ease since Covid, we need to address other challenges to deliver more homes including increasing skilled labour through more apprentices, encouraging more women to enter the industry, and tweaking migration settings targeting key skill shortages.

“Homes won’t get off the ground without the people to build them and the rolling out of regulatory and planning reforms to lift productivity.”