Home building intentions have soared in Northern Tasmania.
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Between them, the eight councils in the region approved 400 new dwellings in the six months to December, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed.
That had the region on track for 800 approvals in the full financial year, which would be 72 per cent more than the 552 approved in the full 12 months to June 2018.
Approvals were on track to beat last financial year’s total in six of the eight council areas, with Flinders on track to break even and only West Tamar (a little) weaker.
Approvals were going gangbusters in the Launceston municipality.
They totalled 164 for the half-year, following on from 220 in the full year to June.
Dorset had almost matched its 2017-18 total of 25, with 23 approvals to the end of December.
Meander Valley (63 approvals) was on track to narrowly pass its 124 approvals from 2017-18.
West Tamar remained the second strongest council are for approvals in the region, behind Launceston.
It had 68 approvals for the half-year, after 147 in 2017-18.
Of the other council areas in the region:
- Northern Midlands had 36 approvals for the half-year and 61 in 2017-18;
- Break O’Day, 27, 45;
- Flinders, five and 10; and
- George Town, 14 and 20.
Tasmania had the strongest growth rate in housing approvals of any of the six states in 2018.
Total approvals by Tasmanian councils were up by 10.6 per cent in December, compared to December 2017, in trend terms figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Approvals in December 2018 totalled 281.
All other states went backwards, although the two territories had stronger approvals growth rates than Tasmania.
Tasmania had the nation’s strongest growth in housing loan commitments in the year to November.
State Treasury analysis showed the state’s 1123 new housing loan commitments in November in trend terms were up by 10.2 per cent compared to commitments in November 2017.