Building approvals are up in Queensland, which should translate to more builds such as this one plumber Lee Johnston worked on. Picture: David Caird
A little known town west of Brisbane is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to Queensland’s race to meet housing targets, with new figures revealing the regions powering the state’s building approvals.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Jimboomba, a rural suburb in Logan City, recorded the most building approvals in the state in the 2024/2025 financial year at 2072.
A total of 38,102 new homes were given the green light in Queensland last financial year, up from 32,976 in the previous financial year.
However, this is well below the 49,200 homes needed each year to meet Queensland’s share of the National Housing Accord, which aimed to deliver 1.2m new homes across the country by mid-2029.
Jess Caire, Queensland executive director at the Property Council of Australia, said Queensland’s share of the NHA equated to 246,000 dwelling by 2029.
“That’s roughly 49,200 dwellings per year, or 12,300 per quarter,” she said.
“It should also be noted that the Queensland Government has its own target of delivering 1 million new homes by 2044.”
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Jess Caire, Queensland executive director at the Property Council of Australia.
The 10 best performing SA3 regions in Queensland racked up 14,653 building approvals between them in the 12 months to June.
Jimboomba recorded 2072 building approvals, followed by Ipswich Inner (1887), Brisbane Inner (1865), Narangba – Burpengary (1767) and Caloundra (1535).
The data also revealed the regions where building approvals plummeted and shot up between the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years.
The worst hit was Surfers Paradise – North, with building approvals down 1155 year-on-year, falling from 1440 to 285.
In Mermaid Beach – Broadbeach figures dropped from 761 to 130 from one financial year to the next, while in Newstead – Bowen Hills just 28 new homes were last financial year, compared to 569 in the previous year.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, building approvals nearly doubled in Brisbane City, from 476 in the 2023/2024 financial year to 1111 in the following 12 months.
In Kangaroo Point, building approvals went from 0 to 551 in the same time, and in Caloundra West – Baringa the figured surged from 776 to 1150.
The Urbex Somers & Hervey Estate in Townsville, a region where 947 homes were approved last financial year. Picture: Supplied
Ms Caire said Queensland was performing relatively well on building approvals compared to other states, supported by strong initiatives such as the Residential Activation Fund, which had helped boost activity.
“However, the scale of the challenge remains significant (as) the annual build target represents volumes never before achieved year on year,” she said.
“This makes it critical to focus on converting approvals into completions.
“A building approval alone doesn’t put a roof over someone’s head.”
Ms Caire said there was a need for all forms of houses, at every price point and in every location to combat the housing crisis.
“Ultimately, what matters is building more homes – not just having them approved,” she said.
“To achieve these, all tiers of government and industry have a role to play and must work together to address the factors that are rendering development infeasible.
“We need to improve the feasibility of apartment buildings in areas with well serviced transport connectivity.
“We need to unlock housing in middle ring suburbs with different and diverse housing types.
“And we need to cater for much needed new land supply by unlocking land and appropriately planning for these areas.”
Queensland is lagging behind it’s National Housing Accord. Picture: Brendan Radke
Ms Caire said Queensland was yet to hit its completion targets in a single quarter.
“Typically (Queensland has been) undershooting its target by roughly 3000-4000 dwellings per quarter, and of course every quarter that we don’t make the target, the greater the challenge becomes,” she said.
“The enormity of the task … presents a unique opportunity to drive reform, including streamlining approval processes, adopting innovative construction models and pursuing further tax reform.”
ABS data showed Queensland delivered 33,719 dwellings in the 2024/2025 financial year, which equated to 13.71 per cent of the total target.
Housing Industry Association economist Maurice Tapang warned the real increase in housing could be significantly smaller than figures showed, with demolitions data suggesting about 20 per cent of the homes commenced in a given quarter were being matched by others being torn down and replaced with just the one residence.
Mr Tapang said the Association was hopeful apartment approvals were the beginning of a new trend of rising sales.
However, he said the biggest increases and decreases around the country being largely recorded in apartment-centric suburbs was an indication they were likely to be volatile.
“With apartments there’s a whole lot of things that can lead to construction not commencing until five years down the line,” he said.
By contrast, Mr Tapang said about 80 per cent of detached house approvals were under construction within three months.
Metricon chief executive, Brad Duggan. Picture: Richard Walker
Brad Duggan, Metricon chief executive, said there was plenty of demand for new homes in Queensland, but not enough rezoned and serviced land in the growth corridors where people actually want to live.
“Until that land is unlocked, the state won’t be able to contribute its fair share to national housing targets.”
Mr Duggan said the National Housing Accord target was achievable in Queensland and nationwide, but not under “business as usual” settings.
“Across every major market, the story is the same: we have willing buyers and willing builders, what we need is a planning and land-release system that matches that ambition,” he said.
“The nation doesn’t have a construction capacity problem.
“Builders can deliver homes quickly, in our case, 60 days for a single storey home and 100 days for a double storey.
“What we need is the land and approvals pipeline to match that pace.”
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