If you have dreams of building your own house, it’s important that you know how much money you’ll have to borrow or save before you start building. While calculating the exact costs can be difficult, increasing costs related to building materials, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages have made it much more difficult to figure out the overall cost to build a house in a post-pandemic Australia.

Building Approvals

Before you start building you’ll need to apply for approval from your local government or a building certifier. Building certifiers manage the building approval and inspection process and must be properly licenced in your state. Keep in mind that if you start building without a permit, then you may be fined. 

Since peaking in March 2021, the number of building approvals has drastically decreased [1]. This may be a result of the HomeBuilder scheme ending, increasing fixed-term mortgage rates, affordability challenges as well as further challenges in the construction industry.

Average Building Costs

In 2022 the final cost for a newly built house will be strongly influenced by the size of the build. In Australia the average home is 200 square metres but newer builds may start at as large as 240 square metres [2]. With a larger home also comes more materials, labour demands and a longer building timeline and all of these elements contribute to the overall cost to build a house.  

Building Materials

In Australia, building costs are normally calculated by multiplying the total floor area (m2) by the cost estimate ($ per m2) provided by the building contractor. And whether you use a timber finish or build a house out of bricks, the price of your materials will greatly impact the final price. As of 2022, construction costs have risen in line with supply chain shortages and an increased demand for building materials. 

The cost of timber, board and joinery rose by 7% in 2022’s first quarter due to timber window installations and other metal products rose by 3.9% because of aluminium windows and doors [3]. With this information, we can assume that supply constraints on timber and metals have contributed to the 3.8% decrease in the total construction done in Q1 [4].   

Building Constraints

In 2022, the average time for the construction of a house has risen from 8.3 months pre-COVID-19 to 12.2 months in March this year [5]. And with Australia in the biggest labour shortage in decades, this has led to long building delays and a need for more bricklayers, carpenters, roofers and tilers specifically. 

The Cost of Houses in Australia

Using CoreLogic’s Hedonic Home Value Index from July 2022 we can estimate the median dwelling value nationally, regionally and per each capital city in Australia. Keep in mind this information is based on index results as of 30 June 2022.

Median Values of All Dwellings

Capital City

Median Value

Sydney

$1,110,660

Melbourne

$798,198

Brisbane

$784,826

Adelaide

$642,470

Perth 

$558,644

Hobart

$735,936

Darwin 

$509,833

Canberra

$937,568

Combined capitals

$826,662

Combined regional

$600,442

National

$752,100

According to CoreLogic housing value growth has continued to decrease since its peak in March of 2021. Recent surges in inflation and a rapidly rising cash rate have further influenced decreasing housing value growth in every capital city and regional market in the 3 months from March to June 2022[6].

CoreLogic has predicted that over time the housing market will slowly return to being in favour of buyers. Even over the past month dwelling values have continued to trend downwards with dwelling values in Melbourne decreasing by 1.1% and Sydney decreasing by 1.6%. [6]

How much does it cost to build a house?

If you’re looking to build a house in the near future then you should consider the cost of building approvals, materials and ongoing time constraints. If houses start to slowly decrease in value (as per CoreLogic’s prediction) you may want to consider whether building a house in 2022 will be worth it in the long run. 

But paying for the land and building materials are not your only costs. Depending on the state you live in you may also need to pay stamp duty on the property, planning fees, transferral fees, and finishing costs.

And if it’s your first home, you may also be eligible for the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG).