Australia's overall construction sector prices were considered inconsistent this year although Melbourne's performance outshone the rest based on a survey conducted by real estate consultant Davis Langdon.

The company's Australia and New Zealand research manager, Michael Skelton, told The Sydney Morning Herald that office, residential and mixed-use projects in Melbourne were already approved and expected to begin by 2011 or 2012. Authorized industrial buildings also increased to US$67 million worth of projects in September from US$45 million in January. "The apartment boom continues to outshine the office sector, but short-term forecasts suggest that 2011 will bring further improvement compared to the past 12 months," Skelton said. "There will be a few large retail projects and an expected resurgence in the industrial sector.''

Melbourne rates are forecast to rise and outpace market performance in 2007. He added: "We experienced a steep rise towards the end of 2010 and we expect a rise of 3 to 5 percent in the next four quarters." Overall, Sydney's commercial sector is having a hard time bouncing back due to its declining economy and generally low of investor confidence as seen by the lack of new major new building projects. In comparison, the construction and property industry in Perth is on the verge of renewal as prices are forecast to increase by 2 to 3 percent by 2011.

Davis Langdon also says that Adelaide industry remains robust through the Building the Education Revolution (BER) projects in addition to other state and private sector developments.