Logan’s growing suburbs may be seeing signs of a stronger housing pipeline, but industry figures show homes aren’t being built fast enough to ease pressure on local renters and buyers.
Housing Industry Association and Australian Bureau of Statistics data show both Queensland house approvals and construction starts are rising, but completed homes remain well behind the number entering the pipeline.
The Housing Industry Association said detached home approvals reached 30,590 nationally in the March quarter, up 9.5 per cent on the same period last year, with Queensland recording the same 9.5 per cent March-quarter increase in approvals.
“Momentum built up in 2025 from cuts to the cash rate, ongoing population growth and low levels of unemployment are supporting housing activity in Australia,” HIA senior economist Maurice Tapang said.
The rise was not just limited to detached houses, with Queensland total dwelling approvals increasing from 9,083 to 11,518 over the same period.
Mr Tapang said underlying demand for housing in Queensland had remained strong due to population growth, including people moving from interstate and from south-east Queensland to regional areas.
“Interest rate cuts from last year certainly helped more households get into the market and proceed with a decision to build a new home,” he said.
However, building approvals are not the same as completed homes.
The latest available Australian Bureau of Statistics data, shows Queensland approvals and construction starts were moving at a similar scale in 2025, while rates of finished homes remained lower.
Using original ABS figures, Queensland recorded 41,997 dwelling approvals and 41,157 commencements in 2025, compared with 32,912 completions.
That means Queensland recorded 9085 fewer completed homes than approvals during 2025, and 8245 fewer completions than construction starts.
For comparison, Queensland approved 39,903 dwellings and completed 42,904 in 2018.
In 2025, it approved slightly more dwellings, but completed almost 10,000 fewer.
Housing and Public Works Minister Sam O’Connor said the data showed early signs the system was starting to recover after years of decline.
“These are the strongest signs yet that Queensland is getting back to building,” Mr O’Connor said.
“What you’re seeing now is the pipeline start to flow again.”
Mr Tapang said approved detached homes typically moved to construction start within about three months, while the latest ABS data showed it took 7.1 months on average to move from start to completion in 2024-25.
“We expect these to turn into completions (keys in doors) in about six months,” Mr Tapang said.
Mr Tapang also said completions tended to be more stable than approvals and starts, with work entering the pipeline often more volatile than finished output.
He said the main barriers to housing delivery were land costs and availability, followed by labour and materials costs.
“The largest barrier to housing delivery is the cost and availability of shovel-ready land,” Mr Tapang said.
“Labour availability comes second but is also notable, particularly as other sectors (mining, civil construction) draw capacity away from the home building industry.”
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