RLB CRANE INDEX®

New South Wales’ preliminary construction activity rose by $5.1B, or 8.1%, for the FY 2023. The residential sector saw an increase in the preliminary value of work done of 1.1% in FY 2023 compared to the previous year. The apartment sector increased by 10.1%, against a 4.2% decrease in house activity. The non-residential sector saw a decline of 0.7% with $15.6B worth of work done, compared to $15.8B recorded in FY 2022. Preliminary engineering activity rose by 20.1% for the year.

The residential sector saw 59 cranes removed, and 75 new cranes erected, for a net increase of 16 cranes. This brings the overall number of cranes in the sector to 261 cranes. The highest number of residential cranes recorded was 289 in Q3 2017. The current result is in line with the growth in apartment work for FY 2023. The residential sector’s crane numbers have surged over the past six months from 245 to 261 currently, a rise of 6%.

The total number of cranes across Sydney are at record levels, including in the aged care, civic, and mixed use sectors.

The projects with the largest number of cranes in Sydney include: One Sydney Harbour (six cranes at Barangaroo), Westconnex (five cranes at Rockdale), Western Sydney Airport (four cranes at Badgerys Creek), Mason & Main Merrylands (four cranes), and Viciniti & Destination (four cranes at Macquarie Park).

Within Sydney, the west and east regions have both recorded the highest number of cranes since Q1 2016, when region allocations commenced. In the past six months the west has seen a jump of 28 cranes or 35%, while the east has risen by 15 cranes or 52%. These results were influenced by record residential cranes in both regions, as well as a large increase in mixed use cranes in the west.

With 108 cranes, the west currently has 18 more cranes than inner Sydney (which has 90 cranes). The only other edition in which the west had more cranes than inner Sydney was in Q3 2018, when the west had one more crane. This continues the trend of cranes shifting from the inner suburbs to the mid and outer suburbs as identified in the Q1 2023 index.

Across Sydney’s five main regions, strong gains have been seen in the east and west, with small movements in the other three regions. Crane numbers in the north, which previously had the largest proportion of cranes in Sydney, fell by six to 95 active cranes. The west has seen a rise of crane activity with a total of 108 cranes, or 27% of all Sydney cranes. This is the first time that the west has had the greatest number of cranes across the city.