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The volume of new homes sold in February was relatively unchanged from the previous month’s increase in sale, according to the Housing Industry Association. Source: Timberbiz The HIA New Home Sales report is a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders in the five largest states and is a leading indicator of future detached home construction. “The RBA delivered its first rate cut in four years on the 19th of February. It may take a few more months to see the effects of this rate cut on the market,” HIA Economist, Maurice Tapang, said. “A pick-up in sales at the start of 2025 has been consistent with the stable economic conditions arising. “Australia’s economy continues to grow, while unemployment remains very low, inflation is easing, and wages are growing in real terms. “While Australia’s population growth is moderating, it is doing so off very high levels. This strong population growth will only ensure underlying demand for housing remains solid,” he said. “The strong economic and household factors will offset the challenges of the higher cost of materials, labour, land and taxes on new homes. “It will be state and local factors that will determine the pick-up in home building activity across the different regions. “Those that are able to help lower the cost of and increase the supply of shovel-ready land will see a stronger increase in activity. “On the other hand, in capital cities and regions where the tax and regulatory imposts on land and new home building is high, the volume of new home starts will remain constrained. “This has already been evident in the contrast between Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia where sales have been picking up, while New South Wales and Victoria remain weak,” Mr Tapang said. In the three months to February 2025, new home sales increased in New South Wales by 55.4% compared with the same period in the previous year, off a very low base. This was followed by South Australia (+18.9%) and Queensland (+14.6%). Victoria recorded a 4.3% decrease over the same period, while Western Australia saw a 20.3% decline, off a high base last year.

Forestry has long been part of the An Cala farming operations in Tasmania’s Central Midlands and fifth-generation farm manager Dougal Morrison is continuing the practice to aid the Oatlands enterprise’s business diversification into carbon farming. Source: Timberbiz An Cala is an 8,000-hectare property that spreads across both sides of the Midland Highway at St Peters Pass, with more than 18,000 ewes run for meat and wool and several hundred beef cattle as the main sources of income. Since finishing his education and returning to the farm in 2018, Dougal, who’s father’s family has owned part of St Peters Pass since the 1820s when land grants were distributed, has been on a mission to improve the landscape and the farm’s operations, with forestry playing a key role. “All of our forestry operations are on land that has previously been harvested or land that is unsuitable to return to pasture,” Mr Morrison said. “Our plans are about getting the best return on that land, and commercial timber and carbon plantations offer us a worthwhile reward for effort. “The area grows quite good trees, and forestry helps us diversify our risk through another income stream. “It also gives us the option to offset the carbon footprint of some of our other commodities by meeting certain environmental wool and meat market certification benchmarks.” Mr Morrison is part of a Private Forests Tasmania integrated farm forestry demonstration site and was one of three farmers last year to receive a share of the $450,000 Stems for CO2 co-investment program, supported by the State Government’s Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania initiative. Under Stems for CO2, about 268 hectares of commercial trees will be planted across the properties of Dougal, Alison Napier, and Julian Devery in Oatlands, St Marys, and Riana, respectively. Mr Morrison’s project will sequester 94,280 tonnes of CO2e across 27 years in the first rotation. That’s enough to offset annual emissions from 20,648 cars or 5,427 homes. The Tasmanian Government’s $10 million commitment in 2023 to maintaining the state’s net-zero emissions status has been pivotal, with $600,000 allocated to Private Forests Tasmania to co-invest with landowners in establishing plantations for forestry and carbon farming while helping communicate the benefits of growing trees to other farmers and landowners. Using the funds, Mr Morrison will plant a four-hectare shelterbelt in August 2025 and convert two eucalyptus nitens plantations into radiata pine plantations The plan is considered a schedule 2 project under the Australian carbon credit units’ scheme where an existing short rotation plantation forest is converted to a long rotation plantation forest for commercial harvesting of wood products. One 113-hectare site will be planted in 2025, while the 39-hectare site will be completed in late winter 2026, with Forest Practices Plans and Private Timber Reserves either in action or progressing. In total, more than 160,000 seedlings will be added to the property for carbon and timber benefits over the plantations’ 27-year lifespan. “We weighed up whether to convert the land back to agricultural grazing or put it back into trees,” Mr Morrison said. “At the time, the numbers were really close because wool, land, and cattle were all selling well, and timber was not fantastic. “But with the carbon project, the numbers came out in front, and it’s probably lucky we went that way because agricultural commodities have dropped in the past four or five years. “We also contemplated going back to nitens, but we believe there will be a better market for pine in the future.” Mr Morrison said site preparation would be carried out in autumn and that firebreaks, fencing, and browsing and weed control measures were in place. “This planting is part of a larger carbon project that will total 453 hectares, some of which we have planted recently,” he said. “We have learnt a lot about how to achieve the best results from plantation establishment from our experience in the last two years, with a greater focus on browsing management needed.” Mr Morrison said Climate Friendly was managing the carbon side of his forestry enterprise, while Cross Cut Forestry Consulting’s Chris Ringk was overseeing his plantation establishment. If you are interested in integrating and growing trees on your property, email Private Forests Tasmania at admin@pft.tas.gov.au or call our free helpline on 1300 661 009 for more information.