Along with a pause in interest rates and some stabilisation in trade and material delays and cost hikes, there is a glimmer of hope that the worst may be behind us, MBQ chief executive Paul Bidwell said.

But the industry wants to see a a pause on the accessible housing and energy efficiency standards which will come into effect in October. Master Builders claims these changes alone would add $20,000 to the cost of building a home.

This would add to the 40 per cent increase in costs the sector had been hit with in the past three years.

The recovery signs included a rise in new dwelling approvals of 5.3 per cent in the March quarter. This followed a plunge 17 per cent in the December quarter.

But unit approvals rebounded in the March quarter with a 30 per cent increase while detached housing was down 10 per cent.

“However, there is clearly a two-speed economy emerging in Queensland as the growth in unit approvals is concentrated in the south east, particularly Brisbane and the Gold Coast,” he said.

“Greater Brisbane nearly doubled the number of units approved, increasing by 81 per cent in three months while the Gold Coast unit approvals increased by 48.5 per cent in the same period.”

The regions were where the pain was still being felt and Bidwell pointed to Townsville and Mackay where approvals down 60 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively.

“While it appears that builders are gradually starting to find their way through the continued challenges of material price hikes nand labour shortages, the reality on the ground is that more needs to be done if they are to deliver the increase in housing that is so desperately needed,” Bidwell said.

He said the industry was going through a profit-less boom and there wasn’t one simple solution to fix the problems and government needed to look to other areas where levers could be pulled to provide some relief.