When building a new home, the final cost of construction can differ from initial expectations at the building approval stage and the start of construction. There may be numerous reasons for cost variations prior to and during construction, that appear to be more common for some types of dwellings (i.e. apartments) than others (i.e. houses). Examples include costs and contracts being finalised after council approval is sought or unexpected delays and complications during construction.
This article investigates the changes in construction cost between the value of approval, the expected value at commencement and the final value at completion of construction for new houses, townhouses and apartments. These values exclude the value of land and landscaping but include site preparation costs associated with building activity.
These data for each financial year from 2009-10 to 2019-20 are available in the data downloads section. The data presented in this article are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' quarterly publication 'Building Activity, Australia'. This article analyses data for the 2019-20 financial year, unless otherwise specified.