Development for the past financial year has just fallen shy of hitting the $200 million mark.
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Between July 2016 and the end of June 2017 more than $195 million in developments were approved by Dubbo Regional Council.
For the previous financial year, development hit $200 million. However while the monetary value is down, the number of developments approved by council increased from year-to-year.
There were 869 developments approved in Dubbo in 2016/17.
Of the approved development applications and complying development certificates for the financial year, 292 were for single dwellings. The single dwellings alone had a value of more than $80 million.
There were also 26 retail buildings given the green light with an estimated value of $7.5 million and two car parks.
During the year there was also a $3 million hostel or boarding house approved, two motels, and two nursing homes with a combined worth of $12.9 million.
A place of worship was given the approval by council as were five educational buildings.
While single dwellings were the most commonly approved item, they were followed shortly behind by garages and carports at 278 approvals. Dubbo residents also enjoy their swimming with 73 applications for pools given a big tick.
For the month of June alone, there were 85 development applications received at a total worth of $17 million. During June 2016 the applications were double with a value of $36 million, however there were only another two applications.
Council director planning and environment Melissa Watkins said there could have been multiple reasons as to why the number of developments had increased while their value went down, such as changes to stamp duty for new homeowners or a change in development fees.
From July 1, first homebuyers received an exemption from stamp duty for new properties with a value of up to $550,000.
When asked if high interest rates for investors had had an impact on the number of applications being received, Ms Watkins said at this stage it had only had a minor affect.
“It’s anecdotal at the moment. We probably won’t know for a few months, then we’ll start seeing the change,” she said.
Administrator Michael Kneipp said council aimed to provide high quality and timely building and development services and the annual results provided a snapshot of the positive trend of building activity.