THE Housing Industry Association (HIA) has released the latest edition of its Population and Residential Building Hotspots Report, with ACT taking the top spot nationally.

The report ranks the fastest growing metropolitan and regional areas in 2014/15 and two ACT areas made in the national top ten.

“The hottest Hotspot in the whole of Australia during 2014/15 were the ACT suburbs of Wright and Coombs, which recorded population growth of 127.3 per cent and registered $216.5 million worth of residential building approvals during the year,” said Greg Weller, the recently appointed Executive Director for the ACT and Southern NSW.

“The suburb of Harrison also made the national top ten in fourth position, with approvals valued at $101.7 million.

“The other big Hotspot in ACT was the Gungahlin-West area, which includes Moncrief, where population growth of 123.2 per cent and residential building approvals valued at $20.3 million were recorded during 2014/15.

“Overall, the ACT performed strongly in 2014/15, with a total of nine Hotspots located throughout the Territory. Of the national top ten, two Hotspots were located in the ACT, which is a high proportion given the ACT’s relatively small size.

“The 2016 edition of the HIA Hotspots report also identifies the ACT Hotspots where momentum in terms of housing activity is strongest. Momentum is strongest in Franklin, where the value of residential building approvals is expected to more than triple during 2015/16. Crace has the second strongest momentum in the ACT, with the value of building approvals set to increase by 7.7 per cent during 2015/16.

“The relative abundance of housing Hotspots in the ACT is a good news story for the Territory’s housing industry, and is also providing vital support to the wider economy at this time,” concluded Mr Weller.

A ‘Hotspot’ is defined as a local area where population growth exceeds the national rate (which was 1.4 per cent in the year to June 2015) and where the value of residential building work approved is in excess of $20 million.

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