Mark Little

The housing boom is being hit by a serious shortage of timber caused by the decline of the local timber industry and increased demand as the US economy recovers and house building ramps up. Home builders in Australia are facing both rising costs and lengthy delays as the shortage starts to affect residential building. In Victoria, where the squeeze is the tightest, the shortage means builders are telling their clients that their new homes may take several months longer to complete as they wait to get hold of increasingly scarce timber frames and roof trusses. Mill closures and bushfires are part of the problem but the nation’s pine plantations have been shrinking steadily since the global financial crisis and the collapse of managed investment schemes.