Men of steel: Security guards called in to protect building materials
Stockpiles of steel are being stored in warehouses under guard as Gold Coast builders struggle to deal with a shortage of key materials
Master Builders QLD Gold Coast regional manager Adam Profke said builders were stockpiling materials to meet supply demands and save money as prices skyrocketed.
āOver the next three months this is going to really bite, but already some of the larger commercial builders are stockpiling and even getting in security to guard materials here on the Coast,ā Profke said.
āIf youāve got 3,000 sheets of steel reinforcing thatās going up from $60 to $90 a sheet, youāve saved almost $100,000 if you can stockpile before a price rise.ā
Profke said timber and steel reinforcing had jumped 30 per cent since January. Concrete had also increased by around $50 per cubic metre.Ā In June alone, the cost of copper and pipes rose 30 per cent.
Hutchinson Builders, that currently has 75 projects under construction in south-east Queensland, said the organisation was looking to buy up big to beat price rises and a steel reinforcing shortage.
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Associate director Jack Hutchinson said global supply issues and Queenslandās hot market that had āgone crazyā on the Gold Coast were driving prices up, particularly in steel reinforcement.
āIt has been crazy for a while, but it has kept going. We are handling it in a few ways.Ā We are trying to procure in bulk if we can, itās tough,ā Hutchinson said.
āWeāve tried to lock away supply with our suppliers.Ā We do have space to store if we need to, but we havenāt pushed the button on it yet.ā
He said timber shortages had also forced many home builders to switch to light-weight steel, that added to cost and demand.
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āA lot of people donāt realise the problems associated with a hot market.Ā Even though thereās a lot of work, it can become quite profit-less work. Itās counter-intuitive but boom times can be dangerous for builders.ā
Profke said as a result of the strain on resources, home builders and renovators were facing massive price hikes and delays.
āConsumers think that builders are ripping them off because theyāre charging more when there is such strong demand.Ā But the reality is, the price of every single thing has gone up.
āSome builders are even having to pay to complete a house because their margin has gone.ā
A new survey showed seven of the top 10 suburbs with the highest demand for home renovations in Queensland were currently on the Gold Coast.
The Home Improvement Report by hipages found Southport was just behind Buderim on the list of suburbs ranked by the highest number of trade services sought through the hipagesā online directory in the last quarter.
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Surfers Paradise, Upper Coomera, Labrador, Coomera, Helensvale and Robina were also among the top 10.
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