We can all agree that the last few years have presented a few curve balls (to say the least). It has affected almost every facet of life, and the house building experience is no exception. One major point of interest, or concern, has been supply chain issues that have been causing major delays on building timeframes for a lot of homebuilding companies. With that, Domaine believes in transparency, and wants to answer the questions you’ve been asking. To alleviate concerns you may have, here’s the rundown on what is actually happening in the building industry right now, and how we are responding to it.
Are building supplies genuinely short in Australia?
First thing’s first, are the rumours true? The simple answer is, yes. Along with supply chain issues from international suppliers of raw materials, there has also been a sharp increase in demand for residential construction. While a nuanced issue, government home-builder grants to boost construction in tough economic times and greater interest in the idea of ‘home’ over Covid can be looked to for this. It’s not all Covid, though.
Australia also suffered shortages of timber due to the 2019-20 bushfires. For context, the thousands of hectares of softwood plantation lost during the fires would have supplied enough timber to last all through 2021. Because of this, many home builders looked to alternative materials such as steel and cement causing reduced supply there, and then other materials like paint, electrical and home accessories have faced a similar fate.
Are the shortages in building materials causing major delays?
One of the concerns we are hearing a lot of are around potential delays to planned home builds.
House construction tends to follow a clear and organised step-by-step process, with one part needing to be completed before another can start. For example, we need timber or steel and cement to arrive before framing can go up and a slab is laid. One delay can have a run-on effect for the rest of the build.
This can be difficult for home builders as their estimated build times are blowing out and disrupting life. Full transparency, things are taking up to 15 weeks longer for building material to arrive post pandemic and it’s unfortunately dependent on the supplier and the stock prepared to go. Basically, it is hard to determine how bad delays can be, however they can certainly be expected.
What does a building material shortage mean for property prices?
Although there are several logistical factors at play to increase demand for home building, many people are choosing to build their new homes now due to the personal implications from COVID-19 restrictions. Suddenly, the idea of home, and how much time we’re spending in it, is a huge consideration to our day-to-day wellbeing, productivity and functionality.
Where we might once not have minded a disjointed floorplan too badly, it is now imperative that everyone be able to live, work and play in a functional, well designed home. With this, the popularity in home building has been unprecedented and the market has had to quickly adjust their costs in line with the supply chain costs. Rising cost and urgency for materials have already increased the property market by over 13% from last year.
Domaine's Difference
Domaine's Difference
At Domaine Homes, we believe that transparency is key, for the good news and the not-so-good news. Although the ramifications of global building supply shortages are inevitable, this doesn’t necessarily mean that all is bad. With 40 years in the game, we have seen and endured the ebbs and flows of the property market (yes, even as extreme as the current ebb) and backed by the Clarendon Group, we have been able to keep our feet steady, and our home buyer’s protected.
We commend ourselves on our efficient building time with a streamlined process. Because of our predetermined design selections, building materials and home features to choose from, we have reserved much of our material locally and have close relationships with our building suppliers.
If your concern is whether the supply shortage will impact the building quality of your home, we can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. We build over 500 homes a year and can attest that perfecting the quality of your build is second nature to us, however, if there happens to be any defects found in your home then luckily Domaine offers Lifetime Structural Guarantee. This means your house is covered by our maintenance team for as long as you live!
Although there is a chance you may encounter some increased costs and building delays, this isn’t abnormal in this current climate, and you will be provided with all the information you need from us! Our team of experienced professionals are experts at forecasting hiccups that come with the market and have been trained to plan for changes like this so we can get you in your home as smoothly and efficiently as possible!
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