PUBLICATION: ECHO NEWS
Australia’s kitchen and bathroom industry is experiencing extremely strong levels of demand as a surge in home building activity drives new kitchen and bathroom installations to record levels and a recovering renovations sector boosts demand for significant interior makeovers.
On Thursday, March 30 the association’s chief economist Harley Dale said detached house sales in WA increased by 11.3 per cent in February following a rise of 12.1 per cent in January.
“In 2017, we expect the profile for leading indicators such as detached house sales to slowly improve for Western Australia and South Australia,’’ he said.
“At the same time the volume of detached house sales on the eastern seaboard is expected to trend lower.”
When announcing the HIA-GWA Kitchens and Bathroom Report for 2016-17 Dr Dale said the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms in Australia was worth $11 billion a year alone, before consideration of the vibrant renovations market.
“The kitchens and bathrooms sector contributes significantly to employment and economic activity.’’
He said the report provided comprehensive forecasts and unique insight into an important sector of Australia’s residential construction industry and wider economy.
“It has been a strong four years for new kitchen and bathroom installations in particular.
“It is estimated that across the kitchens and bathrooms sector there should be around 637,000 new installations in 2016-17.
“As new home building activity begins to ease back from this year, the baton of growth is projected to pass to the renovations side of the kitchens and bathrooms sector.
“Indeed, the process is already underway with the recent development of kitchen and bathroom renovations once again assuming the mantle of being near the top of Australians’ preferred renovation jobs.
“The unique survey within the HIA-GWA Kitchens and Bathrooms Report includes analysis of the age of Australia’s dwelling stock.’’
Dr Dale said the number of older homes was the single largest driver of renovations demand.
“The stock of housing due to come ‘on line’ in the key 11 to 20-year renovation age range for detached houses augers well for growth in kitchen and bathroom renovation jobs in approaching years.
“It is a positive short-term outlook for the kitchens and bathroom sector, which is good news not only for the sector itself but also for the broader domestic economy.