If you have been trying to build, renovate or even just get repairs done on your home recently, you might have had trouble finding tradies to do the work, a new report shows.
In fact, the latest HIA Trades Report*, for the March Quarter 2023, has revealed that despite some improvement, Australia is still in the midst of one of its most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople on record.
HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt noted that the shortages are particularly acute in regional areas and in trades like bricklaying, carpentry and roofing.
“As more workers arrive from overseas, home building and renovations timelines that have blown out during the pandemic will shrink”, Devitt predicted, adding that the demand for and the supply of skilled tradespeople will approach equilibrium again.
“The rate of increase in the price of trades already appears to be moderating.
“The rates paid for skilled trades were increasing at 7.5% per year during the pandemic, compared to just 2% per year before the pandemic. The last three quarters have seen this rate moderate, with the price of trades even declining by 0.03% in the most recent quarter.”
Devitt predicts that the RBA’s actions to date will result in a more significant easing of the shortage of trades later this year, as well as some more declines in the prices of trades.
“The current pipeline is progressively being completed, with an increasing number of projects being cancelled. The number of new projects commencing construction is also set to fall to its lowest level in over a decade.
“This will see the volume of homes under construction shrink and demand for skilled trades fall”, he concluded.
*The HIA Trades Report released today provides a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and any demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry.
