NSW building approvals lifted slightly in March, with new ABS data showing 4,032 new homes were approved - up from February's low point, but still well short of the monthly numbers needed to hit the state's Housing Accord targets.
The Property Council of Australia welcomed the modest rise but cautioned against reading too much into a single month of data, warning the housing supply pipeline remains fragile.
Property Council NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said the latest figures were a small step in the right direction, but not yet a sign of recovery.
"It's encouraging to see approvals lift, but this is still well below the 6,250 homes we need to be approving on average each month of the five-year National Housing Accord," Ms Stevenson said.
"In the first quarter of 2025, just 13,503 homes were approved - setting a pace that would leave us more than 20,000 homes short of the target by year's end.
"We've seen encouraging reform from the Government, but this is a long game - and the system is still too slow, too expensive and too unpredictable for many projects to get off the ground."
The latest approvals data follows sobering completions and commencements figures released last month, which showed just 45,552 homes were delivered in NSW in 2024 - a year-on-year decline - with housing starts also falling by nearly 10 per cent.
Ms Stevenson said the upcoming State Budget must build on recent reform momentum and remove the structural blockers to housing delivery.
"We're calling for permanent fast-track pathways for large-scale housing projects, more funding to support timely development assessments, and continued investment in local infrastructure to unlock development-ready land," she said.
"Unless we shift from announcements to delivery - and make housing feasible again - NSW will keep falling short of its housing goals."
The Property Council's NSW Housing Summit 2025 on 12 June will bring Planning Minister Paul Scully and Housing Minister Rose Jackson together with property industry leaders to discuss solutions to the housing crisis - more information: https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/event/nsw-housing-summit
