FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1 March 2013

HIA Trades Report highlights soft residential construction conditions in 2012

The latest HIA Trades report for the December 2012 quarter highlights the soft state of the residential construction industry at the end of last year, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australias residential construction industry. The HIA Trades Report, a quarterly survey of builders and sub-contractors, indicates that the surplus of skilled labour increased further in the final quarter of 2012. These figures confirm that the skilled trades have endured a most challenging 2012. For the first time in the indexs history, a surplus of skilled labour was recorded in every quarter of the past year, said HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett. The weak skills market conditions put at risk the longer term productive capacity of the housing construction industry. This is because current market conditions may deter entry to the industry and halt the accumulation of skills and training. It is vital that improved support for training and upskilling is provided in these difficult circumstances, Shane Garrett added. The HIA Trade Availability Index registered +0.22 in the December 2012 quarter, meaning that trades were in moderate oversupply (readings greater than 0.0 indicate oversupply). This had the effect of muting price developments. The HIA Trade Prices Index slipped 0.6 per cent in the December 2012 quarter, equivalent to a reduction of 0.2 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2011. HIA Executive Director, Industry Workforce Development, Liz Greenwood added: A key reason why theres a surplus of trades is because no-one wants to spend money on residential construction, including the banks. This lull in activity is hurting our apprentice commencements no-one can commit to taking on an apprentice because there simply isnt enough work to justify that level of financial commitment. Now more than ever, the government needs to focus on making sure employer incentives will keep up the flow of skilled labour into the only industry that can build a roof over our heads.

For further information, please contact: Shane Garrett, Senior Economist on 0416 633 261 Liz Greenwood, Executive Director, Industry Workforce Development on 0414 186 901 For a full copy of the HIA Trades Report (media only), please contact Kirsten Lewis on (02) 6245 1393 or at k.lewis@hia.com.au

HIA TRADE AVAILABILITY INDEX BY TRADE Dec-09 Mar-10 Jun-10 Sep-10 Dec-10 Mar-11 Jun-11 Sep-11 Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12 Sep-12 Dec-12 Bricklaying Carpentry Ceramic Tiling Electrical General Building Joinery Landscaping Other Trades Painting Plastering Plumbing Roofing Site Preparation All trades -0.08 -0.03 -0.33 -0.03 -0.05 0.18 -0.17 -0.06 -0.13 0.00 -0.14 -0.36 0.14 -0.08 -0.18 -0.18 -0.25 -0.18 -0.06 0.05 -0.25 -0.04 0.00 0.07 -0.33 -0.21 -0.03 -0.11 -0.33 -0.10 -0.23 -0.08 -0.18 -0.14 -0.29 0.02 0.01 0.17 -0.13 0.05 0.00 -0.09 -0.38 -0.25 -0.26 -0.13 -0.19 -0.07 -0.29 0.08 0.11 0.07 -0.27 -0.13 0.00 -0.16 -0.20 -0.14 -0.14 0.00 -0.11 0.10 -0.22 0.00 -0.40 0.17 -0.07 0.00 -0.25 -0.10 0.00 -0.06 -0.29 0.00 -0.14 0.14 -0.11 0.07 0.13 0.13 0.08 -0.57 -0.33 -0.07 -0.20 0.05 0.00 -0.33 0.03 0.43 -0.29 0.38 -0.11 0.54 0.19 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 -0.06 -0.23 -0.13 0.06 0.29 0.33 0.07 0.38 0.25 0.18 0.36 0.00 0.06 -0.21 0.16 -0.08 -0.29 -0.01 0.12 0.08 -0.08 0.15 0.09 -0.27 0.38 0.00 0.04 -0.09 0.05 -0.25 0.20 0.07 0.19 0.29 -0.13 -0.09 0.20 -0.13 0.20 0.33 0.04 -0.13 0.20 0.00 0.33 0.21 0.10 0.50 0.24 0.17 0.50 0.33 -0.10 0.25 0.20 0.38 0.09 0.25 0.50 0.13 0.40 1.00 0.11 0.17 0.18 0.00 0.22 0.00 0.15 0.43 0.11 0.50 0.20 0.37 0.55 0.40 -0.11 0.45 0.18 0.33 0.00 0.00 0.22 Quarterly Movement in Availability

Note to Editors The HIA Trades Report is a quarterly measure of trade prices and availability on a capital city and rest of state basis for 13 different trade categories in the 5 largest states. The data is sourced each quarter from a sample of HIA builder and contractor members. The price series is the current charge out rate minus GST and materials. The data is weighted and expressed in terms of an index (with a base of 100 being the weighted average price for all trades in all regions in September 2002). The trade availability measure is derived from a question asking members about the availability of their trade in their particular region. There are five possible responses ranging from critical short supply to massive oversupply. A net balance method is used to derive the single measure. For a full copy of the HIA Trades Report (media only), please contact Kirsten Lewis on (02) 6245 1393 or k.lewis@hia.com.au.

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