The population living on the fringe of Melbourne and Sydney continues to explode at a rapid rate, as new data shows outer suburbs in these two cities growing faster and larger than the rest of Australia.

Melbourne suburb, Cranbourne East is the country’s largest growing and second fastest expanding suburb increasing by a rate of 88 people per week according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Waterloo, Sydney’s high-rise hotspot, was the fifth largest growing suburb. Waterloo increased its high density area by 60 people per week between June 2014 and June 2015.

With approximately 1760 people moving to Melbourne each week, it is now officially the fastest growing capital city. Melbourne has added 830,000 residents over the past ten years, according to SGS Economics and Planning.

Domain Group data showed house prices in growing suburbs lift slightly over this period. Cranbourne East’s house price median was $418,750, a 4.7 per cent increase.

Current infrastructure has been adequate to cope with demand, but may need to be upgraded if this rate of growth continues in the future.

As part of Mirvac’s sustainability strategy, Melbourne will have it’s first “House with No Bills” built later in the year. The Cheltenham development on Jack Road will deliver a home that will run without energy or gas bills.

The home will look, feel and operate as a typical home with some changes that reduce the reliance on the traditional utility bills. The home will have increased roof insulation and solar PV panels, LED lighting, energy efficient appliances, smart metering and monitoring systems which will assist homeowners in keeping track of where and how their energy is being used.

Mirvac will house a key family worker and their family in the “House with No Bills” home to monitor and assess how the energy is used on daily consumption and how the house design and associated sustainable technology performs. By the data gathered, Mirvac will be able to analyse it’s findings and provide the best home model for development on a wider scale.

This will be phase 1 of the Zero Cost Electricity & Gas A Study. This is an important step providing future development towards creating affordable energy efficient communities across Australia. Phase 2 will involve exploring opportunities for Zero Cost Water & Waste.

Job advertisements in Australia are increasing which means more job opportunities are available, with the construction and property industries showing the biggest overall rise in demand.

Data released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicated that there was growth in the construction industry for key staff and tradespeople. This recent ABS report states that the number of people employed in the construction industry has grown by 18,300 in the February quarter to reach record heights of 1.065 million – around 35,000 more than the same period one year ago, and up by 60,000 over the past two years.

On SEEK in April there were 2.7% more new roles advertised compared to April 2015. Victoria and New South Wales are the largest employing states with Victorian job roles up by 4.4% since last year.

The professional job roles are in top demand. These roles include Project Managers, Site Managers, Contract Managers and Administrators, and Forepersons. Whilst tradespeople such as general and civil labourers, carpenters, plumbers, licensed electricians and sheet metal workers are also in high demand.

The need for workers is being driven by high levels of building activity in the residential construction sector. Recently, the nation has broken ground with a record of 220,060 new houses and apartments in 2015, and 200,000 new homes and dwellings set for 2016. Whilst building activity is still at a high level, employment in the construction is still set to grow.

The recent Hays Quarterly Report states that employers are focusing more on staff retention and are willing to fast track promotions in order to retain staff. Leading Hands, for example, are increasingly able to develop in their roles and be promoted to a Foreperson, who can then grow in their role to that of a Site Manager.