1 Proposed15applications in assessmentLeading · to May 2026See applications ↓
2 Approved2,262dwellings approved in 2025-26, or 0.91 per 100 existing dwellings a yearOfficial · ABS to August 2026See approvals ↓
3 Building124major projects committed or under construction, 50 of them already on siteForward · completions to 2030+See projects ↓
4 Delivered12,398new addresses verified since the 2021 Census, up 11.8% on the existing baseActual · to August 2026Where it landed ↓
In the 2025-26 financial year the ABS recorded 2,262 dwelling approvals across Geelong. Right now, 15 development applications are lodged in the Greater Geelong local government area. AreaSearch tracks 124 major projects here that are committed or under construction, the largest being Lovely Banks Development at an estimated $11.0bn. On the ground, 12,398 new addresses have been verified since the 2021 Census — growth of 11.8% on the existing address base.
These four figures are deliberately not added together. An application, an
approval and a project under construction are often the same building at three points in its life,
measured by three different bodies with three different lags. Read them as a sequence, not a total.
ApprovedBuilding Approvals in Geelong
What councils and certifiers have formally
permitted — the ABS series, published about four months in arrears.
Approvals are running at 0.91 per 100 existing dwellings a year, in line with the Victoria rate of 0.80. Development here remains overwhelmingly detached: houses account for 83% of recent approvals. The mix being approved closely matches what is already standing — 81% houses against 85% of existing homes. The average approved dwelling is valued at $401,000 in construction cost.
For its size, Geelong is adding 0.91 dwellings a year per 100 existing homes — in line with the Victoria rate of 0.80 and the national rate of 0.71. That is about 9.2 approvals a year for every 1,000 residents. Building intensity has been broadly stable across the published series.
Measured against people rather than housing stock, Geelong is approving 9.95 dwellings a year per 1,000 residents — above the Victoria rate of 7.86. The two rate views differ by household size, which here averages 2.6 people per home. Housing the projection to 2041 would need about 8.44 per 1,000 residents a year.
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing
homes, with Victoria and Australia for comparison. This is the
same activity as the totals view, divided by the size of the area — which is the only
fair way to compare a large SA3 with a small one.
Dwelling approvals a year per 1,000
residents, each year divided by that year’s estimated resident
population (ABS ERP at 30 June), not by today’s — which matters most in fast-growing
areas, where a fixed denominator can understate the early years by half. The most recent periods use the latest published ERP, as the population series runs a year behind approvals. Read it alongside the per-100-homes view: the two differ wherever household size does.
Dwelling units approved each financial year. The dashed line is the five-year average of 2,120.
How intensively is it building?
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing dwellings.
Geelong0.91
Victoria0.80
Australia0.71
What is here, and what is coming
Detached houses as a share of existing homes,
against the share of recent approvals.
Existing homes (2021 Census)85%
Approved, last 5 years81%
Approved, latest year83%
Detached housesApartments, townhouses & other
Approvals mix by year
Share of each year’s approvals.
2023
2024
2025
2026
2025-26
$941m
Residential work approved
2025-26
$2.10bn
Commercial work approved
construction cost
$401,000
Average value per approved dwelling
last two years
110
Residents per approval
Supply & DemandIs Geelong Building Enough Homes?
The same approvals, measured against the population
they have to house.
Geelong approves about 9.2 new dwellings a year for every 1,000 residents. Since the 2021 Census it has added 19,286 residents and 12,398 new addresses — about 1.6 extra people per home built, below the 2.6-person average household, so building has run ahead of population growth. Housing the population projected for 2041 implies roughly 1,951 new dwellings a year from here, which puts the recent approval rate of 2,120 a year about level with what the projection needs.
Growth against supply since the Census
People added for every new address verified,
against the size of an average local household.
People added per new home1.6
Average household size2.6
A bar longer than the household average means
the area gained more residents than its new housing could hold, and the extra had to be
absorbed by existing homes.
Approval rate against projected need
Dwellings a year: what is currently being
approved, against what the 2041 population projection implies.
Approved (5-yr average)2,120
Implied need to 20411,951
Implied need assumes the average household stays
at today’s 2.6 people. Approvals are not
completions, and not every approval is built.
What is being asked for right now — applications
collected from council planning portals, before any of it reaches the ABS series above.
AreaSearch tracks applications of material scale; routine minor works such as signage and
fencing changes are not carried, so these are not counts of every application lodged. 179
of them carry an AreaSearch analyst assessment — look for the
Analysed marker in the search below.
AreaSearch tracks 4,830 development applications of material scale lodged with council across Geelong, the most recent in May 2026. The biggest categories in the queue by value are commercial, industrial and retail.
Estimated value of applications by development type. This is the clearest
single picture of what kind of place Geelong is being asked to become. A further 22 applications sit across
2 smaller categories,
too few to plot.
Where the applications stand
As reported by the council. Highlighted rows are
applications still in assessment.
historic_discovered744
Grant a Planning Permit599
Grant a Amended Planning Permit243
Permit Issued - No Appeal Lodged84
Withdrawn84
Lapsed37
87 applications are still marked under
assessment but were lodged more than
18 months ago. Councils often leave determined or
abandoned applications open in their feeds, so
they are counted here but excluded
from the live queue above.
A further 2,897 applications carry no status in the council feed.
By local government area
Applications on record within each council area that
overlaps Geelong. This counts applications inside this
statistical area only — it is not a total for the council.
Greater Geelong4,829
No current list of the largest applications can be shown for Geelong.
Nothing on record here is both still open and lodged within the last
18 months. Victoria has no
state-wide planning portal and its council coverage is uneven, so what AreaSearch can
collect here is a record of past activity rather than a live queue. We are currently
investigating a solution. The
4,830 applications AreaSearch holds for this area, lodged
between Dec 2015 and Sep 2020, are counted in the figures above.
BuildingFORWARDMajor Projects & Infrastructure in Geelong
What is funded and moving — the projects large enough
to change how Geelong works, ranked by committed value and how close
they are to delivery.
AreaSearch tracks 124 current projects across Geelong. The largest is Lovely Banks Development at an estimated $11.0bn, due by 2045. That breaks down as 50 under construction, 22 approved and awaiting a start and 52 still in planning. The pipeline is weighted toward residential development, communities, precincts & urban renewal and transport & logistics.
Under construction$500mby 2027
Deakin University Waurn Ponds Campus Expansion
Ongoing multi-stage transformation of Deakin University's Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus under the Climate Ready Campus masterplan. Key completed components include the Geelong Future Economy Precinct (GFEP)…
The over $500 million Barwon Women’s and Children’s Hospital is a landmark health project expanding maternity, neonatal, and paediatric care within the University Hospital Geelong precinct. Delivered by the…
Ashbury Estate is a masterplanned residential community in Armstrong Creek, Geelong, comprising approximately 1,450 lots across 107 hectares and 36 staged releases. The estate features parklands, wetlands…
Estuary EstateUnder construction · Residential Development · by 2027 · Leopold
$400m
Charlemont Rise EstateUnder construction · Residential Development · by 2027 · Charlemont
$350m
Barwon Heads Road UpgradeUnder construction · Transport & Logistics · by 2028 · Charlemont
$318m
Armstrong Mount Duneed EstateUnder construction · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2030 · Grovedale - Mount Duneed
$850m
Warralily Estate Armstrong CreekUnder construction · Communities · by 2030 · Charlemont
$2.20bn
Barwon Solar Farm & Battery Energy Storage SystemApproved · Energy · by 2028 · Lara
$500m
Lara Lakes EstateUnder construction · Residential Development · by 2028 · Lara
$210m
Lara Lakes EstateUnder construction · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2027 · Lara
$160m
Little River Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)Approved · Energy · by 2027 · Lara
$350m
Glenlee Armstrong Creek EstateUnder construction · Residential Development · by 2026 · Charlemont
$150m
Ashbury Estate Armstrong CreekUnder construction · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2026 · Charlemont
$150m
GlenleeUnder construction · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2027 · Charlemont
$150m
109 further projects in
Geelong are not listed here.
Combined values on this page exclude
10 records that appear to be
separate stages of a project already counted. Both are still listed
above with their own values.
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as
definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other
investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and
project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact
Us and we will do so.
Beyond 2030:
a further $33.5bn across
14 projects with completion dates further out — mostly precinct-scale programs whose dates are
indicative. Kept out of the chart so the years you can act on stay readable.
Estimated value of tracked projects by the year they are due to
complete, stacked by how certain they are. The dark band is money already being spent;
the pale band is still an intention. Estimates are indicative and mix infrastructure
cost with whole-of-precinct development value, so read the shape rather than the totals.
Approvals PipelineDevelopment Applications in Geelong
Development applications around
Geelong
Development approvals is a new addition to AreaSearch.
We’re actively expanding council coverage and refining the dataset — details and statuses for some councils may be partial. Check back regularly for the latest pipeline.
Application search is not available in Victoria.
AreaSearch holds 1,191 applications for Geelong, but they are a record of past activity rather than a current register. Victoria has no state-wide planning portal and its council coverage is uneven, so we
have switched the search off here rather than return partial answers. We are
currently investigating a solution. No credits are charged for Victorian
applications, and building approvals from the ABS and the major projects we track
are unaffected.
SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.
ProfessionalPRODevelopment Map for Geelong
Applications and major projects plotted where
they are actually proposed, with the
187 projects AreaSearch tracks here on their own tab — filterable by type, delivery stage,
area and committed value. To search every application on record rather
than this sample, use the section above.
DistributionWhere Development Is Happening in Geelong
Geelong covers 13 statistical areas, and development is not spread evenly between them. Lara alone accounted for 27% of the area’s dwelling approvals in 2025-26. The top three between them took 72% of the total.
Approvals per 100 existing homes in
2025-26, by statistical area, with the Geelong figure marked. Ranked
rather than stacked: rates cannot be added together.
Approvals per 1,000 residents in 2025-26,
by statistical area, against each area’s own estimated resident population, with the
Geelong figure marked. A small area building hard is invisible in
the totals view and obvious here.
Dwelling approvals each financial year, split by the statistical area they
fell in. Each column totals the whole Geelong figure from the
approvals chart above — SA2s nest exactly inside an SA3, so the two always reconcile.
Tap or click an area in the legend to hide it and compare the rest.
The smallest 8 areas are
grouped as one band.
Map builder
Each area below opens a map builder on its own page — a tool for
putting a map and a table into a report. Pick the place types you want plotted
(schools, supermarkets, medical, child care, transport and the rest of what
AreaSearch holds), add development applications as their own layer, drop your own
points, then recolour, renumber and export the result as a table or CSV.
A this area only toggle clips everything to the boundary you are looking at.
Searches are charged against your credit balance — 1 credit per 40
results from AreaSearch data — and setting filters costs nothing until
you search. The builder works on one suburb-sized area at a time, which is why it
opens per area rather than across the whole of
Geelong.
Development in Geelong is assessed within the Greater Geelong local government area. AreaSearch publishes development
figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries. That is deliberate: the ABS
issues a separate official building-approvals series for local government areas, and totals
built up from statistical areas would not match it. Reporting at SA3 keeps every figure on this page
reconcilable with the published ABS series.
CompareNearby Development Hubs
The same view of building approvals, applications and
major projects for areas neighbouring Geelong.
Collected from council planning portals. The
earliest signal available, but the least certain: many applications are amended,
withdrawn or refused, values are the applicant’s own estimate, and coverage
varies by council. This is a curated set, not the full council feed:
AreaSearch carries applications of material scale and does not track routine minor
works such as signage, fencing or small alterations, so the counts here are lower
than a council’s own total lodgement figure and should not be compared with it. Applications still shown as under assessment more than
18 months after lodgement are reported separately
and kept out of the live-queue figures: the age profile of open applications is
sharply split between a genuine queue under a year old and a long tail of records
councils never closed. Not every state publishes a cost of works — Queensland,
the Northern Territory and the ACT publish none at all — so on those pages
applications are counted rather than valued and no dollar figure is shown
rather than a partial one. Treated here as a snapshot of the current queue only —
AreaSearch does not chart application counts over time, because the history
reflects when each portal was collected rather than when development happened.
Approved — ABS building approvals
The official series, aggregated to SA3 from
ABS building approvals data, currently published to August 2026.
Counts dwelling units approved, not buildings and not completions. The most recent
financial year is annualised from nine months of data wherever it appears and is
labelled as such.
Building — major projects
Projects tracked individually by AreaSearch
from Infrastructure Australia, state infrastructure agencies, developer disclosures
and council records. Values are estimates and delivery dates are targets. Ranked on
this page by committed value and delivery stage rather than by distance.
Delivered — verified new addresses
New residential addresses verified in the national
address register since the 2021 Census. This is the closest available measure of what has
actually been built, though address creation can lead occupation and lags
construction. It is not a completions count.
Boundaries
Geelong is Statistical Area Level 3 20302 in the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (2021 edition), made up of 13 Statistical Areas Level 2.
It has an estimated 231,272 residents, +9.1% since the 2021 Census.
Currency
Measure
Source
To
Dwelling approvals, five-year average
ABS / AreaSearch
July 2026
House share of approvals
ABS / AreaSearch
July 2026
Residents per approval
ABS / AreaSearch
July 2026
Value per approved dwelling
ABS / AreaSearch
July 2026
Commercial work approved
ABS / AreaSearch
July 2026
Verified new addresses since the Census
Address register / AreaSearch
August 2026
Development applications
Council planning portals
May 2026
Major projects
Infrastructure Australia / state agencies / AreaSearch
Ongoing
Figures on this page are read live from the
AreaSearch database each time it loads, so they update as soon as a source does.
Development in Geelong — common questions
How many new dwellings were approved in Geelong?
The ABS recorded 2,262 dwelling approvals across Geelong in the 2025-26 financial year, against a five-year average of 2,120 a year.
How many development applications are lodged in Geelong?
AreaSearch tracks 4,830 development applications of material scale across Geelong — routine minor works such as signage and fencing are not included, so this is not a count of every application lodged, of which 15 remain in assessment. Applications are assessed within the Greater Geelong local government area. The most recent application in our data was lodged in May 2026.
What major projects are planned for Geelong?
AreaSearch tracks 124 current major projects in Geelong, 50 of them under construction. The largest include Deakin University Waurn Ponds Campus Expansion, Barwon Women's and Children's Hospital and Ashbury Estate.
Which council covers Geelong?
Geelong is an ABS Statistical Area Level 3. It is covered by the Greater Geelong local government area. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries, so they reconcile with the official ABS series.
Is Geelong growing faster than the rest of Victoria?
On development approvals, Geelong is adding new dwellings at about the same rate as Victoria as a whole — 0.91 approvals per 100 existing dwellings a year against the state figure of 0.80.
How current is this development data?
ABS building approvals are published with a lag of roughly four months; this page carries the series to August 2026. Development applications are collected from council planning portals and refresh continuously, with the most recent application here lodged in May 2026. Major project records are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Each section carries its own currency label so the four are never confused.
Development data is provided for general information.
Estimated values, dwelling counts and delivery dates come from the lodging or delivering party and
are not independently verified by AreaSearch. Confirm anything material with the relevant council
or agency before relying on it.
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as
definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other
investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and
project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact
Us and we will do so.