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NewsThe RBA Has Lifted the Cash Rate to 4.85%, the Highest Since 2008, and HIA Says New Home Sales Are at an 18-Month Low. Here's How Builders Should Protect Cash Flow.
The RBA raised the cash rate to 4.85% on 3 November in a split six-to-three vote. Here's what HIA and Master Builders said, what the data shows and the desk moves for builders.
5 Nov 2026House Construction Input Costs Rose 3.9% in a Year, the Fastest in Three Years, With Electrical Gear Up 14.5%. Here's How Builders Should Re-Price Now.
The ABS Producer Price Index for the September quarter shows input costs climbing faster than the prices house builders can charge. Here are the numbers, what's driving them, what Master Builders said and the desk moves for builders.
Read moreHIA and Master Builders Join Welfare Groups to Demand a 20-Year Social Housing Plan: 6% of Homes by 2050, About 23,000 Extra a Year. Here's What It Means for Your Pipeline.
The National Affordable Housing Alliance took a single platform to Canberra on 29 October, backed by builders, property, community housing and welfare groups. Here are the targets, the four priorities, what the builder groups said and the desk moves for builders.
Read moreNew Home Prices Were Flat in September as Builders Lifted Discounts to Offset Base Price Rises. They're Still Up 4.7% in a Year, and Hobart Leads at 8.8%.
The ABS's September CPI shows new dwelling prices didn't move in the month, with discounts and promotions cancelling out base price increases as demand slows. Here are the annual figures by capital city, what HIA is seeing in sales, the RBA date to watch and the desk moves for builders.
Read moreChinese Aluminium Windows and Doors Now Carry Border Securities of 5.3% to 73.3% While the Dumping Case Runs to 16 December. Ask Your Supplier Who Made Them and Re-Price Before You Quote.
Since 15 October, importers of Chinese aluminium windows and doors have had to lodge securities against possible dumping and countervailing duties, after the Australian Trade Remedies Commission's preliminary findings in Investigation 691. Here are the rates by exporter, what's covered, what builders and developers are saying, and the dates to watch.
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NewsWA's Draft R-Codes Are Out: Granny Flats Up to 90 Square Metres With No Parking Minimum, and 70,000 More Perth Lots Able to Subdivide. Keep Building to Today's Codes and Get Your Submission In by 26 February.
The Western Australian Planning Commission has opened consultation on draft Residential Design Codes that would lift granny flat limits, scrap average lot sizes for R10 to R25 in Perth and Peel, and add new mid and high rise apartment codes. Nothing changes for current applications, and the final codes aren't expected to start taking effect until mid to late 2027.
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NewsHIA Trades Report: Trade Prices Up 6.6% in a Year, the Fastest in Four Years, and Every Market Is Still Short. Re-Check Your Trade Rates and Book Bricklayers Early.
HIA's September quarter Trades Report shows skilled trade shortages persisting across every market and every trade, led by bricklaying, tiling, carpentry and roofing, with electrical shortages worsening fast. New home sales are falling, but HIA says the work already on the ground will keep trades in demand this year.
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NewsQBCC Puts Fixed-Price Contract Exposure on Its Builder Viability Watch List as Queensland House Prices Rise 8% in a Year. Re-Check Every Open Quote Before You Sign.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission's 20 October guidance names fixed-price contract exposure as a significant industry risk where costs keep climbing after signing. With ABS data showing Queensland house construction prices up 8.0% over the year and Cotality's index back to 1.0% quarterly growth, the desk job is pricing risk before the contract, not after.
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NewsHIA Housing 100: Australia's Biggest Builders Started 70,553 Homes in 2025/26 — Only the Fifth Year Above 70,000. But New Home Sales Fell 19.3% and HIA Says Don't Read It as the Outlook.
The HIA Housing 100 Report, released on 21 October 2026, shows the largest 100 builders took 35% of the market last year, down from 36%, as smaller builders picked up volume. HIA warns the result is rearward-looking: new home sales fell 19.3% in the three months to August and the cash rate hit 4.6% in September. The desk job now is converting the pipeline.
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NewsQueensland's $2.4 Billion Infrastructure Activation Fund Is Open: $798m in Grants and Nearly $1.6bn in Interest-Free Loans for the Roads, Water and Sewer That Hold Up New Estates. Applications Close 30 November.
Applications opened on 19 October 2026 for the joint Queensland and Australian Government Infrastructure Activation Fund, which offers $399 million in grants from each government and nearly $1.6 billion in Commonwealth-backed interest-free loans for catalyst infrastructure. EDQ says it will unlock about 51,368 homes over eight years, 20,547 of them supporting first home buyers. Developers, councils, utilities and state agencies can apply until 2pm AEST on 30 November.
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NewsEvery Government Has Now Signed Up to Modernise the National Construction Code — Digital, AI-Ready, One National Market. No Dates Yet and the Residential Pause Holds to Mid-2029. Keep Building to Today's Code and Get Your Pain Points In.
Commonwealth, state and territory housing, planning and building ministers agreed a shared statement on 16 October 2026 committing to modernise the National Construction Code under five reform directions: simpler digital access, one national market, governance and cost–benefit reform, pathways for modular and other innovative methods, and cheaper risk-based compliance. The ABCB will begin preliminary work, but there are no dates, and the pause on residential NCC changes until mid-2029 still applies.
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