Australia is building more homes than ever. Building commenced on more than 200,000 new homes in the year to March, new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. The 203,760 dwelling commencements was a record number and an increase of 15.6 percent year-on-year. The building boom was driven by apartments, townhouses and semi-detached dwellings. Detached dwelling commencements held relatively steady, increasing by 0.7 per cent in the March 2015 quarter to 28,761, while "other dwelling" commencements (predominantly multi-unit dwellings) jumped by 19.2 per cent to 25,140. “We have now reached a milestone in terms of dwelling commencements," said Peter Jones, Chief Economist of Master Builders Australia. “The strongest year-on-year growth in dwelling starts was achieved by Tasmania (+36.8 percent), Victoria (+26.6 percent) and Queensland (+20.4 percent). Tasmania is enjoying a resurgence after a dismal few years, Victoria is being driven by a population surge, and the residential recovery is gaining momentum in Queensland,” he said. Both Victoria and Queensland saw strong growth in dwelling starts of around 20 per cent in the March quarter 2015. “In value of work done terms, there was a massive 5.1 percent jump in residential building during the March quarter, to take the increase in year-on-year terms to 10.6 percent,” said Jones.