Listed: SA’s worst NIMBY hotspots

South Australia is facing a critical shortage of homes in 15 key locations marked as hotspots of NIMBY resistance, with virtually no new dwelling approvals despite growing demand and rising property prices.

A shock analysis revealed “an entrenched pattern of underdevelopment” across some of Adelaide’s most established suburbs, intensifying the state’s affordability crisis as families compete for a limited supply of new homes.

Research by MCG Quantity Surveyors pinpointed areas with the lowest building approvals over the past two years, with undersupply also dire in regional growth areas, including Berri, Port Pirie, Peterborough and Mount Remarkable.

“Australia’s housing market faces significant pressure due to surging population growth, heightened demand, and an alarmingly low rate of new dwelling approvals,” MCG Quantity Surveyors managing director Mike Mortlock said.

“While many regions grapple with meeting housing demand, certain suburb areas stand out starkly as hotspots of resistance – often referred to as NIBMYism (Not In My Back Yard) – to new developments.”

In the 24 months to January 2025, only 337,564 dwelling units were approved nationally.

MCG’s report identified 15 suburbs in SA with less than 5000 building approvals, coupled with less than a 1 per cent increase in housing stock.

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Adelaide’s worst-ranked areas included: Hallett Cove, Coromandel Valley, Aberfoyle Park, Sheidow Park, Trott Park, Flagstaff Hill, Woodcroft and Happy Valley.

“In South Australia, the pattern is most concentrated in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, where household growth is being outpaced by a lacklustre supply pipeline,” Mr Mortlock said.

“Suburbs like Hallett Cove, Aberfoyle Park and Flagstaff Hill show the hallmarks of low-approval inertia-well-established, owner-occupied enclaves with limited infill opportunities and persistent resistance to change.

“Even in regional centres like Port Pirie and Berri, where affordability is strong, new supply remains surprisingly muted.  “This isn’t just a planning issue—it’s cultural. Without a shift in attitudes toward housing renewal and moderate density, these communities risk becoming increasingly exclusive, and increasingly out of reach.”

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SA’S Top 10 NIMBY suburbs.

Separate research by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows Australia missed its housing construction targets so badly in 2024 that instead of needing to build 240,000 homes a year – that figure has now jumped to 260,000.

According to the data, the nation commenced work on just over 168,000 homes in 2024.

It was a 3000 property increase from 2023, but still fell 72,000 short of the 240,000 annual builds needed to reach the National Housing Accord’s 1.2 million new homes target.

Locally, SA is falling almost 26 per cent below its housing quota for the last September quarter, Property Council of Australia data shows.

According to the PCA, SA delivered only 3104 new homes between July and September 2024 – 1087 short of the 4191 required per quarter to meet the National Housing Accord Target.

In the year to September 2024, SA completed 11,854 homes, despite an annual supply target of about 16,000 homes, the council said.

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MCG Quantity Surveyors managing director Mike Mortlock.

“The Property Council recently conducted research showing that Adelaide is now Australia’s second most expensive housing market on a relative basis and only trails Sydney when you consider incomes relative to house prices and that if action is not taken this will worsen out to 2030,” PCA executive director for SA Bruce Djite said.

“Suburban infill is an important piece of the supply puzzle and considering the enabling infrastructure challenges currently plaguing the state, infill is the fastest way to materially increase supply and give us a slim chance of achieving our share of the National Housing Accord Target.

“While the Malinauskas Government is investigating how it can increase the supply, density and diversity of various forms of housing, we have called on the government to refrain from further populist policy such as tree and garaging provisions that bow to suburban NIMBY pressures and rather to investigate how statutory development costs are impacting supply and affordability.”

Ray White economist Nerida Conisbee said skyrocketing building costs had made it more affordable to buy an existing home than purchase a new one – undermining policies aimed at encouraging new construction.

“Construction challenges have worsened, with industry insolvencies continuing to rise and now exceeding 1,200 annually,” Ms Consibee said.

“Labor productivity remains low, and the average time to complete a house has increased from approximately 6.5 months pre-pandemic to over 10 months today.

“These factors severely limit the industry’s capacity to deliver on ambitious housing targets.”

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