Brisbane’s Olympic infrastructure push is causing local homeowners to wait 19-times longer than Victorians for tradies, according to new data revealing the extent of the 2032 Games’ stranglehold on Queensland’s tradie market. According to iBuildNew’s analysis of figures from PumpSwap, a national marketplace matching homeowners with heat pump hot water installers, Queenslanders typically wait 2.4 days for their first quote, compared to just over 3 hours in Victoria.
And, that’s if a tradie even responds to their callout for a hot water pump; iBuildNew and PumpSwap also found that a Queensland homeowner is around two-times more likely than a Victorian to be left waiting with no installer taking on the job at all.
The Queensland Government recently revealed its concepts for the new Brisbane Stadium and National Aquatic Centre, part of the $7.1 billion 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Venues Infrastructure Program jointly funded by the federal and state governments.
For a Queensland homeowner without a hot water system, this could mean more days without hot showers, clean dishes or laundry getting done.
| State | Average wait time | Comp. to fastest state (VIC) |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 3.1 hours | baseline |
| New South Wales | 11.8 hours | 4x longer |
| Western Australia | 23.2 hours | 7x longer |
| Tasmania | 24.5 hours | 8x longer |
| Queensland | 2.4 days | 19x longer |
Median wait for a first quote on a hot water pump job, by state. Source: PumpSwap.com.au / iBuildNew
PumpSwap founder Joshua James said this trend was “not a blip” and had been visible since the Government’s large-scale infrastructure projects began.
On the Olympics, Mr James said homeowners were forced to “compete” with the government over tradies providing essential services to their property.
“When large infrastructure programs absorb licensed electricians and plumbers, residential work is what gets squeezed,” he said.
“A homeowner replacing a hot water system cannot compete with a multi-year contract on rate or continuity, so they end up at the back of the queue or with nobody returning the call.
“Queensland homeowners are wearing that, and the wait compared to Victoria is what it looks like in practice.”
Mr James adds that while the demand for electric heat pumps is the same in both Melbourne and Brisbane, “the local trades to meet it aren’t”.
Queensland homeowners are forced to wait 2.4 days on average just for a quote on a hot water system, according to data from PumpSwap and iBuildNew. Images: Shutterstock, PumpSwap.
And, the consequences aren’t just short-term for the River City. According to iBuildNew executive director Mike Bird, construction for the Olympics is leaving property developments struggling to get off the ground.
“With the Olympics coming up in Queensland, developers are competing against the government for builders,” he said.
“They have a hard time convincing contractors to work for a private developer when the alternative is working for the government, where they know they’ll get paid.”
PumpSwap founder Joshua James and iBuildNew executive director Mike Bird
Without a steady pipeline of developments, Mr Bird said this competition would continue to constrain Brisbane’s housing supply.
“Brisbane needs housing projects that have the economies of scale to deliver more affordable housing options in order to handle population growth,” he said.
“Instead, in a market already hit by inflation, tax changes and the removal of SMSF borrowing, further knocks to Brisbane’s labour force are just another barrier being put up for home builders and developers.”
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