State government under fire over home completion rates

A PEAK property body has accused the South Australian government of being “unambitious” when it comes to the state’s housing targets.

The Property Council of Australia (SA) said the Australian Bureau of Statistics dwelling commencements and completions figures show South Australia is making encouraging progress on housing delivery.

But it said the state government’s target of 13,500 homes is far too low.

“It’s low for not only what is required for our state under the National Housing Accord but also unusually unambitious for a government which routinely talks up their ambition,” Property Council SA executive director Bruce Djite said.

The 14,130 homes completed in SA by the year ending March 2026 is well short of the state’s National Housing Accord target of approximately 16,700 homes.

The ABS figures show South Australia completed 3727 dwellings during the March quarter, up from 3699 in the December quarter and 3080 a year earlier, representing a 21 per cent increase over the year.

Despite the improvement, the state still remains below the approximately 4191 homes required each quarter to meet South Australia’s share of the Accord target.

As a percentage to target, South Australia is also outpaced by other Australian jurisdictions – with Victoria (32 per cent), Western Australia (28 per cent) and ACT (34 per cent) ahead of the state’s 27.8 per cent of target currently met.

Dwelling commencements eased to 3791 during the March quarter from 4043 in the December quarter, although they remained slightly above the same quarter last year.

Nationally, commencements fell by 11.2 per cent over the quarter.

Djite said the housing conversation had shifted considerably over the past two years, with governments recognising that increasing supply is the key to improving affordability.

“Broadly we would categorise the government as ambitious. Routinely talking up nuclear submarine delivery, Olympic Dam’s potential expansion, major event coups and its housing delivery credentials,” Djite said.

“However, setting itself a conservative target of 13,500 homes against a nationally agreed goal of 16,700, which is now even higher following consecutive quarters of missing that target, is uncharacteristically unambitious.”

He said recent initiatives, including support for apartment development in the CBD and proposed planning reform, demonstrated encouraging intent.

“While we are tracking in the right direction, the real challenge is ensuring reforms translate into more projects commencing, more dwellings being completed and ultimately more South Australians being able to find an affordable, well-located place to live.”

The Property Council SA will continue working constructively with all levels of government to accelerate housing supply and deliver the reforms needed to improve affordability for South Australians.