RLB CRANE INDEX®

The residential sector saw 102 cranes removed and 95 new cranes erected resulting in a net decrease of seven cranes. This brings the overall number of cranes in the sector to 251. The highest number of residential cranes recorded was 289 in Q3 2017.

Preliminary construction activity for the 2023 calendar year in New South Wales rose by 11.9% or $8.2bn, compared to the previous year. The residential sector saw an increase of 3.2% for the year. The non-residential sector grew by 5.3%. The engineering sector was the major contributor to the increase in total construction work done with $34.8bn worth of work done in 2023—an increase of 23.2% on 2022.

The projects with the largest number of cranes in Sydney include:

• Vicinti and Destination (Macquarie Park, five cranes,)
• Tallawong Village (Tallawong, four cranes,)
• New Sydney Fish Markets (Glebe, four cranes)
• Randwick Campus Redevelopment (Randwick, four cranes)
• Westconnex (Rockdale, four cranes,)
• Western Sydney Airport (Badgerys Creek, four cranes)
• Powerhouse Parramatta (Parramatta, four cranes)

Within Sydney, the last edition of the RLB Crane Index highlighted that both the west and east regions recorded their highest number of cranes since Q1 2016, when region allocations commenced. In the past six months the west has seen a 12% reduction (13 cranes), while the east was up by 9% (four cranes) and the north grew by 11 cranes to reach 106. Both the east and north regions recorded their highest number of cranes since Q1 2016.

With 95 cranes, the west currently has nine more cranes than inner Sydney (which has 86 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 north, while crane numbers reduced in the other three regions. Crane numbers in the north, which previously had the largest proportion of cranes in Sydney, increased by 11 to 106 active cranes. The west had a fall in crane activity with a total of 95 cranes, or 24% of all Sydney cranes.