FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17 May 2013

HIA Trades Report Highlights Difficult Conditions for Residential Construction

The HIA Trades report for the March 2013 quarter presents an update highlighting the difficult conditions that continue to prevail in Australias residential construction industry, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australias residential building industry. The HIA Trades Report, a quarterly survey of builders and sub-contractors, indicates a relatively high availability of skilled labour continued into the first quarter of 2013, while developments in trade rates were benign. Skilled trades people continue to operate in weak conditions residential construction experienced declining activity in 2012 and while there are signs of a recovery in 2013, it is from a very low starting point, said HIA Economist, Diwa Hopkins. An adequate provision of skilled labour will be a crucial ingredient to a recovery in new home building that is of the magnitude required by Australias longer term housing needs, said Diwa Hopkins. A prolonged period of inadequate residential construction activity is not conducive to attracting new skilled labour into the industry, and this may undermine the longer term capacity of the industry to meet recovering demand. Improved support now for training will play an important role in mitigating t his risk, added Diwa Hopkins. The HIA Trade Availability Index eased slightly from +0.22 at the end of 2012 to +0.19 in the March quarter this year, meaning that trades were still in moderate oversupply (readings greater than 0.0 indicate oversupply). The current soft conditions in the residential construction industry are also reflected in the relatively mild improvement the HIA Trade Prices Index. The Index increased by 2.7 per cent in the March 2013 quarter, off a very low base, to register an annual growth rate of 1.1 per cent. HIA Executive Director, Industry Workforce Development, Liz Greenwood added: From a policy perspective, very little has changed since the last quarter. Policy decision-makers are still faced with the pressing need to address business certainty, for without that, building businesses will be reluctant to commit to taking on apprentices. One positive message from these figures is for those consumers considering a new home or renovating an one make the most of the current window of opportunity while skilled trades people are in more favourable supply.

For further information, please contact: Diwa Hopkins, Economist on 0422 781 805 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 Mar-13 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 0.00 0.15 0.33 0.40 0.31 0.17 0.25 -0.03 0.00 0.17 0.43 0.25 0.50 0.19 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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