South Australia Housing Statistics: supply, approvals and rental vacancy rates

Greater Adelaide added 18,647 residents in 2024–25, while South Australia approved 14,516 dwellings over the same period. Building approvals remained elevated through to March 2026, but completions were more uneven, falling in the September quarter before rebounding to 3,726 in the December quarter of 2025. Adelaide's rental vacancy rate held at 0.7% in May 2026, placing it among the tightest capital city rental markets. Annual advertised rent growth eased to 4.9%, below the national average and behind Darwin, Hobart and Brisbane. Playford accounted for almost one in six dwelling approvals across South Australia, while water and sewerage capacity constraints affecting major northern release areas are now being addressed.

Section 01 · Where Adelaide is growing

Where are new homes being approved in Adelaide?

Playford approved 2,302 dwellings in 2024–25, the highest total of any local government area in South Australia and equivalent to 15.9% of all dwelling approvals in the state. The LGA also added 4,357 residents over the same period, growing by 3.9%, the fastest rate of any South Australian council area. New approvals across Greater Adelaide remain concentrated in a small number of outer-fringe and middle-ring locations.

Salisbury, one of the state's larger established council areas with about 151,000 residents, approved 712 dwellings while adding 382 residents. Charles Sturt recorded a different approval mix, with 919 apartments and townhouses compared with 538 houses, making it the strongest inner-ring example of medium-density approval activity in this dataset.

SA total new residents covers the whole state; Greater Adelaide growth was 18,647. New houses and other residential approvals do not sum to total approvals because conversion dwellings are recorded separately. Source: ABS Building Approvals (Cat. 8731.0), LGA data cube 87310DO016, April 2026 release; ABS Regional Population, 2024–25.

Note: LGA-level completion data is not publicly available from the ABS. Approvals are used as the closest available proxy for local housing delivery activity.

Figures cover the 2025–26 financial year to date, from July 2025 to April 2026. SA total includes all LGAs statewide. Source: ABS Building Approvals (Cat. 8731.0), LGA data cube 87310DO017, April 2026 release.

Section 02 · Approvals vs completions

South Australia building approvals and dwelling completions

South Australia approved 14,516 dwellings in 2024–25. Dwelling completions remained lower, with about 12,800 new residential dwellings completed over the four quarters to June 2025. In the December quarter of 2025, South Australian Treasury reported 3,726 dwelling completions, based on ABS Building Activity data.

On a total-approvals basis, this leaves a gap of about 1,700 dwellings. Excluding the 105 conversion dwellings included in the approvals total, the new-build gap is closer to 1,600 dwellings.

Monthly total approvals stayed above 1,000 in most months from October 2024 to March 2026, with January 2026 the main exception. House approvals exceeded 800 in 12 of those 18 months. An approval represents planning permission, while a completion represents a finished dwelling. The difference between approvals and completions shows how much approved supply has not yet converted into completed housing.

The 14,516 approvals figure includes 105 conversion dwellings. Houses plus other residential approvals total 14,411. Completions cover the four quarters to June 2025, new residential dwellings and total sectors. Source: ABS Building Approvals (Cat. 8731.0), LGA data cube 87310DO016, April 2026 release; ABS Building Activity (Cat. 8752.0).

Completions remained below approvals throughout 2024–25, with quarterly completions staying within a range of about 2,500 to 4,000 dwellings. While the gap was modest in individual quarters, it shows that approved dwellings were not being completed at the same pace as new approvals.

Section 03 · Growth corridors

How is infrastructure shaping Adelaide's growth corridors?

A $1.5 billion SA Water infrastructure package is intended to support tens of thousands of allotments across Adelaide's growth areas, including the northern corridor. The main constraint was not only planning policy, but physical servicing capacity. The Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant in the outer north had reached full capacity, while the Salisbury trunk main was also under pressure. Until both were upgraded, major releases could not proceed at the planned scale and Development Agreements for Infrastructure could not be issued. The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan identifies these corridors as key areas for future housing growth.

Key northern release areas, including Riverlea, Concordia and Two Wells, were therefore constrained by water and wastewater servicing capacity as well as the broader planning process. These areas could not proceed at their planned scale until the infrastructure constraints were addressed.

Source: SA 2025–26 Budget Statement; Housing Roadmap 2024; PlanSA Local Area Population Projections; Greater Adelaide Regional Plan, current version.

Section 04 · Supply vs demand

Why is Adelaide's rental vacancy rate still so low?

Adelaide's rental vacancy rate held at 0.7% in May 2026, with 1,081 rental properties listed across metro Adelaide. This placed Adelaide among the tightest capital city rental markets, behind Darwin and Hobart and level with Perth. Combined advertised rents rose 4.9% over the year to June 2026, below the national average of 7.8% and behind Darwin at 14.0%, Hobart at 12.3% and Brisbane at 9.1%. SQM's three-week vacancy measure indicates a constrained rental market, with available rental stock well below the 2.5% to 3.0% range often used to indicate a more balanced market.

South Australia is projected to fall 18,000 homes short of its Accord target

South Australia is projected to deliver 66,000 dwellings against its 84,000-home National Housing Accord allocation, leaving an estimated shortfall of 18,000 homes. At the current projected pace, full delivery is not expected until March 2031, which is 21 months after the June 2029 deadline.

The National Housing Accord targets 1.2 million new homes across Australia over the five years from mid-2024. South Australia's 84,000-home allocation reflects its roughly 7% share of the national population. Nationally, WA and the ACT are the only jurisdictions projected to meet their targets by June 2029. Australia as a whole is tracking at 82% of the Accord target, while NSW has the largest estimated shortfall, at 118,000 homes below its 376,000-dwelling allocation.

SA highlighted. WA and the ACT are the only jurisdictions projected to meet their Accord targets by June 2029. Source: NHSAC, Table 4.1, early 2026 outlook.

Vacancy data is for May 2026. Annual rent growth is for the week ending 12 June 2026 and covers combined houses and units. Source: SQM Research, National Vacancy Rates and Weekly Rents, May 2026.

Section 05 · Infill vs greenfield

How are infill targets and greenfield land prices reshaping Adelaide housing?

Detached houses made up 78% of South Australian dwelling approvals in calendar 2020. By 2025, that share had fallen to 67%, while apartments and townhouses rose from 22% to 33% over the same period. Despite this shift, detached houses still accounted for about two-thirds of all dwelling approvals, with much of that supply concentrated on the urban fringe.

Greater Adelaide greenfield lot prices rose 23% in 2025 as sales fell

Greater Adelaide's median greenfield lot price rose 23% in 2025 to $377,135, the largest annual increase of any capital city, following an 18% rise the year before. Over the same period, greenfield lot sales fell 15% to 2,535. This indicates that price growth occurred while sales volumes declined, pointing to tighter development-ready land supply rather than stronger sales activity. Median lot sizes also fell below 400 sqm for the first time on record, which increased the land rate per square metre faster than the headline lot price.

Source: Urban Development Institute of Australia, State of the Land Report 2026 (pp. 8, 72–75, Greater Adelaide Greenfield Market Performance Summary Table); Researchfour. Figures are Greater Adelaide, calendar year 2025.

The current Greater Adelaide Regional Plan requires a minimum 15-year supply of zoned land, including five years of development-ready supply. Source: Greater Adelaide Regional Plan, current version; PlanSA; UDIA.

Infill development in established suburbs can involve land assembly across fragmented private ownership, along with local infrastructure upgrades such as stormwater and power networks. Seaton and Southwark, which together represent more than $530 million in state investment, show the scale of public funding attached to some major infill precincts. These projects indicate that large-scale infill can require substantial upfront investment, particularly where government-owned land, infrastructure works and affordable housing commitments are involved.

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