One year after the most precipitous global economic downturn in living memory, current predictions about the development of the Australian construction market vary widely. If we are to make an assessment of the stock market, consumer & business sentiment, and bullish interest rate announcements from the Reserve Bank, you’d think what was meant to be a significant recession is well & truly behind us. Other commentators are more guarded, like Westpac’s Chief Economist Bill Evans who cautions that ‘there are too many uncertainties facing the domestic and global economies to sustain such optimism.’
Discussions in the construction community about a V-shaped vs. a W-shaped recovery abound. At BCI, our deep connection with the construction market tells us there can’t be a simple “one size fits all” prediction. This downturn and what many see as its recovery is marked by anomalies. While some parts of the market have barely been hit by the economic and financial crisis, other sectors are still struggling to recover.
BCI’s intimate knowledge of tens of thousands of projects in the development pipeline allows us to distinguish the ‘wheat from the chaff’. The question of how a wide variety of subsectors of the market will fare over the next nine months will take centre stage at BCI’s upcoming Breakfast Briefings in 5 state capitals next month. Please refer to page 8 for more information and download a registration from today by following the banner on our homepage at www.bciaustralia.com.