Please note that price information in this article was based on data from 2016, and may now be outdated.
(23 January, 2017) The time is right to renovate in Melbourne, with tradie prices falling 1.6 percent since last quarter – an early indication that the city’s property prices may have finally peaked.
According to new statistics from the latest ServiceSeeking.com.au Tradie Price Index, the cost of renovating in Melbourne is 12.5 percent below the national average.
The average hourly rate to hire a tradie in Melbourne sits at $57.94, compared to Sydney at $64.97 and Brisbane at $70.85.
“You’re going to pay around $7.00 less per hour to hire a tradie in Melbourne than if you were living in Sydney. Even though it’s property market had a strong 2016, Melbourne is clearly still the more affordable option if you want to buy or renovate”, says ServiceSeeking.com.au CEO Jeremy Levitt.
Even with most trades recording a slight increase in wage over the last quarter, the overall average price to hire a tradie is still 1.3 per cent cheaper than this time last year.
So, with some of the best value prices across the nation, how much can you expect to pay for a tradie in Melbourne in 2017?
Plumbers remain the most expensive trade service, charging on average $78.37 per hour in the nation’s second-most populous city.
Electricians are next on the list, with an average hourly rate of $73.27, up 12.5 percent year on year.
The industry to record the greatest year on year loss was landscaping. With a 20.5 percent decrease on the previous year, landscapers in Melbourne remain the cheapest in the country at $51.13 hourly.
Hourly rates are “gross” rates and aside from including the cost of labour, also cover the cost of running the business including insurance, tools, work vehicles, insurance and superannuation
The prices were derived by comparing a sample of 52,000 quotes submitted during the FY17 Q2 through ServiceSeeking.com.au, the website for getting any job done from tradies to professional services.
To view price changes across eight popular renovation services around the country, including major capital cities, see www.serviceseeking.com.au/renovations
| Melbourne
Average Hourly Rates |
2017FY Q2 | 2017FY Q1 | % quarterly change | 2016FY Q2 | % year-on-year change |
| Building & construction | $58.74 | $58.05 | 1.2% | $57.21 | 2.7% |
| Carpentry | $49.90 | $52.53 | -5.0% | $51.67 | -3.4% |
| Electricians | $73.27 | $72.70 | 0.8% | $65.28 | 12.2% |
| Landscaping | $56.93 | $51.13 | 11.3% | $71.63 | -20.5% |
| Painting | $41.03 | $40.10 | 2.3% | $38.82 | 5.7% |
| Plastering | $47.73 | $46.91 | 1.7% | $47.44 | 0.6% |
| Plumbing | $78.37 | $78.33 | 0.1% | $75.75 | 3.5% |
| Tiling | $54.20 | $51.07 | 6.1% | $50.31 | 7.7% |
| ALL TRADES AVERAGE | $57.94 | $58.86 | -1.6% | $58.70 | -1.3% |