Today
Rising rates won’t hit home building in WA or Victoria, ABN Group says
Perth’s undersupply of housing relative to demand is so great that prices will keep rising “substantially”, the country’s second-largest home builder says.
- Michael Bleby
This Month
Hutchinson Builders reports a ‘rubbish’ 80pc slump in profit
The pressures on construction contractors are acute in a regional market such as south-east Queensland, where they continue to compete for limited resources.
- Michael Bleby
Sydney construction firm NPM calls in administrators
The construction, design and refurbishment firm completed commercial projects for some of the country’s biggest property groups.
- Larry Schlesinger
As timber buildings go up, emissions come down
The growing use of engineered wood products allows for less embodied carbon in buildings, but that alone won’t make construction clean.
- Michael Bleby
I’m not responsible for Dome collapse, former director says
The former head of a high-end building company put into liquidation last week says he’s not to blame - and that his offers to help the company were rejected.
- Michael Bleby
Big builders argue against new federal payment rules
The Australian Constructors Association says the industry is no worse than any other at paying its bills, but the author of a key 2017 report disagrees.
- Michael Bleby
- Exclusive
- Boral
Greenwash clash as funds hit Boral board over lowered carbon targets
A group of funds led by HESTA and AMP are demanding Boral reinstate its 2030 emissions reduction target. Boral says that would be akin to greenwashing.
- Hannah Wootton
Melbourne builder Dome goes into liquidation as $6.5m loan unravels
While there are some signs that home builders are through the worst of the crunch, many remain vulnerable.
- Michael Bleby
Why apartment developers will struggle to hire builders
With construction booming in social infrastructure such as health and education, the residential sector will need to do more to attract builders.
- Michael Bleby
Defaulting Country Garden sells huge Melbourne estate to Frasers
China’s biggest private developer offloads Windermere estate in Melbourne to Frasers for around $250 million as the company moves closer to leaving Australia.
- Larry Schlesinger
Why Gold Coast apartments are now doubling in price
Developer Allen Sammut says average prices for large apartments in his Surfers Paradise beachfront project have doubled since June 2021.
- Larry Schlesinger
Fletcher Building accuses BGC of blame-shifting in plumbing nightmare
CEO Ross Taylor says Fletcher has not been drinking its “own Kool Aid”, with poor installation by WA plumbers the issue in high leak rates in new homes.
- Simon Evans
A third of property companies struggling to hire in key roles
While there are some signs of labour market pressures easing, property professionals are still getting better pay rises than most other sectors of the economy.
- Larry Schlesinger
Slowdown in home building costs to help ease inflation
The sharp slowdown in the rate of growth in home building costs should help counteract some of the inflationary impact of higher rents and reduce the risk of further rate rises.
- Nila Sweeney
Simonds turns a quarterly profit after two years of losses
The ASX-listed builder says it is diversifying into other areas to make up for weakness in the traditional consumer-focused house-and-land market.
- Michael Bleby
BlueScope, Aconex co-founder back mass timber products start-up
A Melbourne start-up has banked $1.5 million to develop structural design software to bring mass timber into the mainstream.
- Tess Bennett
Why buyers looked past the flaws in this unit – and paid $2.4m
The shabby apartment needed at least $200,000 to fix it up. But rather than hide its faults, the agent hit buyers over the head with its problems. And it worked.
- Michael Bleby
AEMO, CEOs in call-to-arms on clean energy build-out
The nation’s energy market operator will urge developers to exploit all available government schemes to get projects into construction, and get community backing.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith and Mark Ludlow
One in three big home builders are losing money: RBA
Building companies are haemorrhaging cash as the construction sector battles rapidly rising wages and material costs.
- Updated
- Michael Read and Michael Bleby
This construction material is a time-bomb. No one seems to care
The use of versatile but porous concrete was common in post-war Britain. But its use for load-bearing purposes is a global phenomenon whose potential vulnerabilities are spread far and wide.
- Feargus O'Sullivan
