Forecasts for Western Australia's construction industry are strong

4/2/99
The forecasts for Western Australia's construction industry are strong with Premier Richard Court predicting continued growth in the sector over the coming year.
Mr Court said WA should outstrip the rest of the nation in non-residential construction in the next 12 months. Home construction, at least in the short term, also remained strong both in WA and nationally.
"Non-residential building approvals grew by 56 per cent in the three months to November 1999 and by 55 per cent over the year to November," Mr Court said.
"An encouraging sign is that this growth is being spread across a number of industries such as retail, hospitality, education, health and office space.
"By late last year the value of work still to be done on non-residential projects already underway in WA had grown by 72 percent. Nationally, however, non-residential building approvals have dropped by almost 14 per cent for the year and the number of upcoming projects fell by 22.4 per cent over the same period."
There were similar positive signs in the residential sector.
"Finance commitments for housing construction grew by 28.8 per cent in WA over the three months to November 1999 - although this has been partly driven by the upcoming introduction of the GST," Mr Court said.
"The positive outlook for the construction industry reflects the general strength of the WA economy and the willingness of individuals and organisations to invest in the future of the State."

Media contact: Casey Cahill 9222 9475