Big projects fueling growth in housing market

THE Papua LNG project in Gulf and the Wafi-Golpu project in Morobe will push the growth of the housing market, according to Bank South Pacific.
There had been a rapid growth in the housing market in the past three years due to the PNG LNG project construction phase, said Customer experience and retail support deputy manager Kili Tambua. He said that although the growth was steady last year, the demand remained high.
“The future prospect of growth is promising. If the Papua LNG project and Wafi-Golpu move to front-end engineering design we think will see another push in the market,” Tambua said. The number of housing loans approved by BSP went up from 306 in 2016 to 549 in 2017 – a 79 per cent increase, with more young people involved in the employer housing programmes.
The main challenge for the housing market is the lack of land for the development of housing projects. He urged the Government to progress the land mobilisation programme to other centers.
He suggested that to assist the market, the government should review the current housing policy and provide tax incentives to housing developers who are importing building materials, or local factories producing building materials.