Signs of Hope for First Home Buyers

The dream of owning a home is returning for some of Australia's first home buyers. Figures released today from the HIA/Commonwealth Bank Affordability Report show that affordability improved in the September quarter, up 3.8 per cent to its highest level in over a year.
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Investment Lending Resumes Downward March

Demand among Australia's property investors continues to fall. Residential investment lending across Australia fell by 7.1 per cent in October and although still historically high, is well down on the record levels of 2003. Lending is 34.4 per cent off the record peak of October last year.
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Renovation Builders Busy as DIY Activity Eases

Despite an easing in total renovation activity in the September quarter, major work carried out by Australia's licensed renovation and extension builders has risen in the September quarter.
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Housing Downturn Confirmed

Another fall in home lending in October provides further evidence that a moderate cyclical downturn in the housing market is underway, according to peak building and construction industry organisation, Master Builders Australia.
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Building Commission Wins 2004 Workplace Excellence Award

Minister for Industrial Relations, Rob Hulls, awarded the Building Commission the prestigious Workplace Excellence Award for Better Work and Family Balance at a presentation ceremony on Friday 12 November.
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Leighton wins $524 mln contract for Sydney Transitway

Leighton Holdings Ltd on Monday was awarded a $524 million contract to build the North-West Transitway in Sydney.
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Local Council Wastes Money; Hurts Housing Affordability in the Process

The building and construction industry is amazed that Moreland City Council is wasting taxpayer dollars on developing its own energy provisions in contravention of State regulations, Master Builders Association of Victoria said today.
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150,000 homes coming this way

150,000 homes will be built in Sydney's outer suburbs, but the Carr Government admits the $8 billion project will not be enough to ease the city's chronic land shortage and home-affordability crisis.
Craig Knowles, The Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, will reveal a timetable to build the new suburbs, more than three years after they were first announced and a year behind schedule.
A 90,000-home series of estates will be approved for almost immediate start in the Bringelly corridor, near Liverpool and another 60,000 homes are set for the Marsden Park area. (SMH 9/12/04)