Property

The Sydney rental market is tight. Only 29,300 houses and units have started construction across NSW in the last financial year – the lowest level since the Australian Bureau of Statistics started collecting data in 1969. It's the fourth year of construction decline and fifth in a downturn. The extremely tight rental market in Sydney is at a 1.5 percent vacancy level – great for landlords.

A non-residential construction boom is coming according to stock analyst Macquarie Research Equities (MRE). The number of upgrades to estimated major project construction work for 2007 has increased and in MRE's estimates that this could "reflect strong underlying demand and a freeing up of resources with the completion of a number of large projects. Major project work in 2006 increased 20% to $A20.7bn." According to the analyst, the main sectors driving these non-residential construction upgrades are mining, utilities and energy.