Hunter and Central Coast housing approvals expand in 2025

THE latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures indicate that total home approvals for the Hunter grew two percent in 2025 compared to the 2024 calendar year.

On the Central Coast, total home approvals grew by 16 percent in the same period.

Craig Jennion, HIA Hunter Executive Director, said the overall growth in approvals is “pleasing”, demonstrating that the regions remain critical housing locations due to the combination of relative affordability compared to Sydney, rapid population growth, and diverse lifestyle options.

“However, increased support by all levels of government to reduce the barriers on land development and new home building are required if the relative affordability benefits the region is known for are to be taken advantage of in 2026,” said Mr Jennion.

There were a total of 5,210 building approvals across the Hunter in 2025 and 1,223 on the Central Coast.

Combined, this is five percent stronger than in 2024, and four percent higher than the pre-Covid year of 2018.

The total value of new building approvals was $2.97 billion in 2025, an increase of 11 percent.

In the Hunter the value of building approvals was $2.35 billion, whilst on the Central Coast the value was just shy of $625 million.

Detached house approvals in the Hunter declined with a fall of 17 percent in the 2025 calendar year.

Across the region Muswellbrook saw the strongest growth in detached house approvals, up by 66 percent compared to 2024.

This was followed by Newcastle (+42 percent), Scone (+41 percent), Port Stephens (+38 percent), and Dungog (+30 percent).

The largest declines were recorded in the Great Lakes (-66 percent), Gloucester (-50 percent), Lake Macquarie (-35 percent), Cessnock (-21 percent) and Singleton (-9 percent).”

Multi-unit approvals increased in all local government areas except for Dungog, with approvals up 38 percent in the Hunter and 50 percent on the Central Coast compared to the previous year.

In the Hunter, growth was greatest in the Great Lakes (+166 percent), Muswellbrook (+100 percent), Maitland (+54 percent), Lake Macquarie (+35 percent) and Port Stephens (+33 percent).

“Much of the heavy lifting for the residential sector continues to occur in the local government areas of Maitland, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Cessnock,” Mr Jennion said.

“These top five locations for approvals accounted for 88 percent of total approvals.

“Whilst detached homes remained the preference for home buyers, accounting for 53 percent of total approvals in the Hunter and 56 percent on the Central Coast, multi-unit approvals saw double digit growth in both regions.

“This suggests that some households are turning to more affordable smaller homes as a means of securing home ownership.

“Despite the varied results, especially for detached dwellings, it is clear that the region worked through the challenges of 2024 that were characterised by the higher cost of borrowing, land, materials and labour.

“Whilst these concerns remain, interest rate cuts in 2025 have helped bring more households back to the market, supported by the fact that many households remain in employment, which provides certainty of income.”