Today's Australian building approval numbers are encouraging, with over 15k dwelling approvals added in October.

This echos similar sentiment we have been seeing across our partner ecosystem. Real estate developers are feeling more confident and are starting to bring projects forward, particularly in Victoria following the state government's recent stamp duty incentives to encourage supply.

Australia needs to be building at around 150-200k homes a year just to bring the demand and supply relationship back to equilibrium, and October's figures suggest that we are heading back to that level.

But one month doesn't establish a trend, and it's important to remember that we are coming off a very bad base.

Bottom line: State governments need to get smart about encouraging brand-new development and increasing supply.

New South Wales (NSW) has been talking for most of this year about planning reforms but delivering very little. Victoria has realised that rolling back its taxes can have an immediate impact to bring on supply.

Unit approvals jumped 8.9%. That's a smart move in that a state that hasn't had many smart moves in recent years.

Queensland is starting to show signs of fatigue and we're calling the boom over in that state as we roll into 2025.

Market commentary from Peter Esho, economist and founder at Esho Capital