Construction information services group BCI Media has released their annual construction outlook report, titling it ‘Ambiguous markets - Succeeding in the New Normal– Australian Construction Market Outlook 2013/2014’.

The report provides critical analyses on the current state of the construction industry in Australia. It also reveals information on construction volumes by key sectors and states.

Damian Eastman, Chief Operating Officer BCI Australia & New Zealand, commented: “Over the past year the Australian construction industry has continued to struggle with limited growth and it is a very similar picture for the year ahead, however the multi-residential and commercial sectors are showing signs of positive progression which allow for some reassurance to the market”.

Key findings from the report:

- BCI expect the total construction projects market (building and infrastructure projects, excluding the detached housing sector as well as mining, oil and gas) to grow 2 per cent in the upcoming 2013/2014 financial year. This compares with a rise of 0.14 per cent for the current fiscal year ending 30 June 2013.

- The 1st quarter 2013 saw a welcome bounce-back on building commencements. Since then, the most notable pattern is stability. The 2013/2014 year of construction will be marked by the evenness of work throughout the four quarters - it is neither growing nor shrinking any longer.

- Across all states, aged care construction continues to grow. There will be a 10 per cent increase in 2013/2014 to bring the total value of aged care construction to $2 billion.

- Almost every state is expecting a significant augmentation of hospitality projects to start construction in 2013/2014. It is expected to be worth $1.6 billion, growing 45 per cent from 2012/2013.

- The multi-residential construction market is still the biggest in Australia. The 2013/2014 pipeline has $8.3 billion of projects queued up, almost recouping the shortfall experienced in 2012/2013.

The eastern states dominate this traditionally population-based market – the biggest growth moving into the next financial year is in NSW/ACT, which is forecast to increase by 30 per cent to $2.8 billion.

- Nationally and in most states, the retail construction sector has been expanding. Overall, there was a 19 per cent increase in the value of work in 2012/2013 compared with the previous financial year. BCI expects another 10.5 per cent increase in 2013/2014 – totaling $4.2 billion of construction. This puts it ahead of the commercial sector in construction investment and second only to multi-residential.

- Construction sentiment in early 2013 showed encouraging signs – current workload was described as ‘fair’ and expected order situation in 12 months was a consensus of cautious optimism.

Availability of finance remains the biggest detractor of growth.

By analysing 350,000 projects, BCI Media Group says it can identify the market segments set to take off, those set to trend sideways and areas that may fall over in the next twelve months.