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House Build Times Falling in Victoria According to the Master Builders Association

liam@tradeboom.com.auNovember 8, 20250 comments

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House Build Times Falling in Victoria According to the Master Builders Association

The residential construction sector is demonstrating its first sustained recovery in efficiency since the pandemic, with new data confirming a reduction in the time taken to complete new homes across Australia. 

This turnaround is most pronounced in Victoria, where builders are successfully navigating persistent labour and cost hurdles.

Master Builders Australia, citing the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, reports a decline in the time taken to complete detached houses, townhouses, and apartments during the 2024-25 financial year, signalling an easing of severe supply-side pressures.

Victoria currently has the edge in home-building efficiency

The data pinpoints Victoria as the national efficiency leader in detached housing delivery. 

Master Builders Victoria has confirmed that the average detached house build time in the state is now 39.12 weeks, which is over six weeks faster than the Australian average of 45.96 weeks.

MBV CEO Michaela Lihou noted that this confirms the sector is finding its footing. 

“We’ve recently reported that Victorian builders say they have plenty of capacity in their project pipelines, and now we have confirmation that that work is being completed in the best times in the past few years,” Ms Lihou stated. 

“It certainly feels like we’ve turned a positive corner.”

Looking at the national picture

Nationally, the improvement is significant for the volume sector:

  • Detached Houses saw the largest gain, with build times shortening by 5.4 weeks (a 9.7% reduction).
  • Townhouses improved by 5.0 weeks (a 7.1% reduction).

This reduction is attributed to improving supply chain stability and the softening of acute labour shortages. However, perspective remains key. MBA Chief Economist Shane Garrett noted that while the trend is positive, detached house build times are still approximately 35.8% slower than they were a decade ago, highlighting the scale of the ongoing productivity challenge.

Housing pipeline challenges

While completion speed is improving, the industry remains cautious. Data from the ABS shows the national pipeline of work remains historically high, with over 223,000 dwellings under construction as of the June quarter 2025. 

Simultaneously, the Housing Industry Association continues to report that new home commencements are running at decade lows.

The combined message is clear: the industry is getting faster at finishing the homes currently in the pipeline, which alleviates immediate pressure. 

However, the upstream challenge of boosting housing starts to meet the National Housing Accord’s 1.2 million home target remains highly constrained by regulatory approvals and land release issues.

The recent improvement in delivery speed, supported by an easing of construction cost growth as measured by CoreLogic’s Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI), provides a welcome measure of confidence for builders managing both projects and margins.

Sources

Only 4,229 of 166,830 Temporary Skilled Workers Employed in Australian Home Construction

Australia's ambitious national target to construct 1.2 million new homes…
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