The Australian construction sector is moving into 2026 with a growing sense of stability, tempered by realism about capacity, risk and delivery. After several years of volatility, industry leaders are no longer talking about recovery, but recalibration for the delivery wave ahead.
Those themes came through clearly during Hubexo’s Construction Outlook Webinar for 2026, where senior figures from development, architecture, construction and technology unpacked what the national construction pipeline is really signalling about the year ahead.
Panellists included:
- Brook Monahan, Founder & Managing Director at Mosaic Property Group
- Stephen McGarry, Director at Carr
- Divya Mehta, Group CEO at Decode Group
- Ashleigh Porter, President APAC at Hubexo
The discussion coincided with the release of Hubexo’s Construction Outlook for 2026. The report draws on Hubexo’s national project pipeline data from its LeadManager platform, a Sentiment Survey and industry interviews to track activity across residential, commercial and hospitality, community and public buildings, industrial, infrastructure and transport, and energy and resources sectors.
🎥 Missed the live session? The webinar recording is now available on demand via Hubexo
Sentiment: Stabilising, but deliberate
One of the defining shifts in this year’s Construction Outlook data is the return of stalled projects to the pipeline, creating a renewed sense of stability despite ongoing cost pressure.
Pipeline volatility has eased, project values are lifting across most sectors, and sentiment has improved, but this is not a return to speculative volume or rapid scaling.
Instead, the market is moving forward more deliberately. Projects are being tested earlier and more rigorously, with feasibility, funding certainty and approvals now outweighing speed to market. The result is a steadier pipeline shaped by discipline rather than expansion. That shift was echoed by Hubexo President APAC Ashleigh Porter.
“The pipeline is building again, and we’re seeing project values step up across most sectors”, Porter said.
“What we’re seeing isn’t risk appetite snapping back, but stalled projects coming back on stream as costs stabilise and planning and approval pathways become clearer.
“Funding clarity, approvals and delivery confidence are now the deciding factors, not speed to market.”
Development: Trust, delivery and long-term thinking
Recent years have fundamentally reshaped how risk, trust and responsibility are understood and shared across the development ecosystem.
Queensland-based developer Mosaic delivered and commenced around $2 billion worth of projects in 2025, but Monahan said scale alone is no longer the true measure of success.
With buyers committing early, trust has become the industry’s most valuable asset, and heading into 2026 the challenge is not demand, but delivery capacity, productivity and labour availability.
“You have to keep evolving—skills, capacity, systems, people and culture—across every part of the development and construction lifecycle”, Monahan said.
“It’s a hard industry to stay relevant, solvent and trusted over multiple cycles.
“We’re continuing to invest heavily in our capacity to deal with whatever risks may be around the corner. There’s always pressure across the business, but we remain optimistic about the future.”
Architecture: Earlier decisions, longer-term value
Across the industry, architects are being pulled earlier into projects as clients become more selective and feasibility takes on greater importance.
Cost pressure, labour constraints and planning uncertainty are pushing risk upstream, elevating the role of early collaboration and commercial rigour in determining what proceeds.
For many practices, this has meant recalibrating how and where they engage, focusing less on volume and more on depth, early-stage involvement, and long-term project viability.
“Looking ahead to 2026, our priorities are about deepening our presence, particularly in Queensland, but also placing much more emphasis on early collaboration and greater rigour around feasibility”, McGarry said.
“We’re working through feasibilities across multiple states every day, sitting down with clients to really test how projects stack up and manage risk together, because ultimately, that leads to better outcomes for everyone.”
Construction: Capacity pressures increase
Across the sector, builders are entering 2026 with demand firmly in place, but with delivery capacity under sustained pressure. Labour shortages remain acute, and while cost escalation has moderated, margin pressure and productivity constraints continue to shape how work is selected and delivered.
What is shifting, however, is industry behaviour. Builders and developers are collaborating more closely, sharing pressure rather than transferring it, and making more disciplined decisions about where to deploy people, capital and capability.
“If we can make people’s lives easier and build faster, why wouldn’t we? We’re embracing AI to improve processes and systems, and it’s a clear focus for us heading into 2026”, Mehta said.
“The industry needs homes—around 377,000 by 2029—and we’re only delivering about 40% of what’s needed. That’s a huge opportunity, but it also demands better collaboration, training and a shared approach to pressure across the system.”
Innovation: From interest to execution
Across the panel, technology emerged not as a “silver bullet”, but as a necessary capability.
Porter said interest in AI, data and digital tools is high, but adoption remains uneven. The organisations pulling ahead are embedding technology into everyday workflows and treating digital capability as a core organisational skill, not an add-on, a shift that will matter more as workforce pressures persist into 2026.
Monahan said AI’s immediate value lies in improving early decision-making, where risk and feasibility are either resolved or compounded.
“The real opportunity with AI isn’t novelty—it’s better coordination and faster, more informed decisions around risk”, Monahan said.
From an architectural lens, McGarry pointed to AI’s growing role in early-stage analysis and optimisation, stressing that technology should support professional judgement rather than replace it.
“At the front end, rapid site analysis and feasibility testing give clients confidence and help avoid issues later on site”, McGarry said.
For Mehta, the focus is practical application. As housing demand intensifies, she said technology has a clear role to play in lifting productivity, removing friction from delivery and helping the industry scale more effectively.