Australia’s top locations for home building and renovation have been revealed, with South Australia leading the way.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) Housing Scorecard, which compares levels of activity in across home building, renovations, lending and population growth, shows South Australia is well ahead of every other state. Western Australia was second for activity, followed by Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory, the ACT and Tasmania.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that South Australia’s total construction work done reached $4.59 billion in 2024, a 7.7% increase over the past year.

HIA senior economist Thomas Devitt says New South Wales and Victoria have slipped in the rankings as land costs, punitive taxes and “obstructionist regulations” put pressure on home building activity and drive many residents interstate. “This is why the outlook for homebuilding across different markets is going to depend on the ability of state policymakers to bring affordable shovel-ready land to market and help reduce costs and regulations on home buyers, investors and the industry,” he says.