Bricklayers, carpenters, tilers and roofers are in short supply across the regions as demand increased in capital cities, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) Trades Availability Index has found.

The supply and price of skilled tradespeople is measured on a scale of +2.00 to -2.00 with a positive reading indicating easier access.

Acute disparity was shown between cities and regions: regional Queensland (-0.92) lagged far behind Brisbane (-0.48), regional Victoria (-0.46) behind Melbourne (-0.21) and regional NSW (-0.49) behind Sydney (-0.40).

"When housing and construction demand in cities far exceeds that of regions - as we are seeing in Queensland in particular - tradies go to the cities and the regions are left behind," an HIA spokesperson said.

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