Slumping numbers of new apartments under construction could force an undersupply by 2022, property advisory group Charter Keck Cramer has forecast.
The demand-supply imbalance, according to Charter Keck Cramer's quarterly state of the market, is largely due to population growth and anaemic construction activity.
In Australia's biggest cities prices have strongly rebounded, with Melbourne lifting by 1.2 per cent over January, along with an increase of 1.1 per cent in Sydney.
The recovery has had little effect in stirring new development as the pipeline of new apartments continues to trend down.
The number of residential cranes across the country's skylines has also retreated to 511 in the last RLB Crane Index count in September from 535 six months earlier.
Brisbane completions over time
Brisbane, which is likely to be the first east coast city to experience an undersupply of apartments, having turned down earlier, requires approximately 23,000 additional dwellings per annum to accommodate its growth.
In 2019 construction commenced on 2,100 apartments—a decrease of 3,000 on the 5,100 commencements recorded in 2018 and was the lowest number of commencements since 2010.
Apartment completions in Brisbane have fallen by almost half over the following two years, and in 2020 are on track to record the lowest level of completions since 2013.