Queensland’s regional dwelling approvals for July have delivered mixed news for the state’s building industry.

The Central Queensland region based on the Gladstone, Rockhampton, Central Highlands and Biloela area was a stand-out, while the Mackay-Whitsunday region dropped.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that new houses are up 17.2 per cent over the month overall (with total residential approvals up 7.7 per cent for the same period).

Master Builders deputy chief executive officer Paul Bidwell said that figures for Far North Queensland, North Queensland, Wide Bay Burnett, Downs & Western regions and Brisbane were all up for the month.

“Central Queensland was a star performer with housing approvals increasing by 55.9 per cent over the month and 36.2 per cent over the past year,” Mr Bidwell said.

“There’s also talk on the ground that the figures for August will be even better.

“Looking across the state it’s clear that the impact of the HomeBuilder grant is yet to be truly felt, particularly on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Mackay and Whitsunday.

“The Gold Coast continues to be held back by a lack of available residential land.

“While the stimulus hasn’t translated into building approvals in some areas, housing finance numbers and anecdotal evidence from builders regarding the large number of signed contracts, indicate these will soon translate into approvals and building work on the ground.”

He said concerns remained that an unprecedented level of contracts were pending finance approval and would fall over and not convert to construction work on the ground, due to HomeBuilder rules stopping lenders from considering the grant when determining loan eligibility.

This in turn means new home buyers are unable to use the $25,000 grant as part of their deposit.

“We’ll continue our work with government to address this technicality, as it certainly wasn’t the original intention of the grant,” Mr Bidwell said.