Australia’s monthly building approvals fell in August as a sharp drop in apartments and townhouses outweighed softer house approvals, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Total dwelling approvals declined 6.0 per cent to 14,744. Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: ‘The drop in total dwellings was driven by an 8.1 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses, following a 25.8 per cent fall in July.’ He added: ‘Private sector houses also fell, down 2.6 per cent in August.’
Private sector house approvals slipped to 9,027, 3.5 per cent lower than a year earlier. ‘The fall in private sector houses in August was driven by the two largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, which were down 8.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively,’ Mr Rossi said. ‘In contrast, Queensland rose 2.9 per cent and Western Australia rose 1.7 per cent.’ Seasonally adjusted approvals for private houses were: New South Wales 1,752; Victoria 2,654; Queensland 2,065; South Australia 768; Western Australia 1,481.
Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 8.1 per cent to 5,408. The ABS said approvals for apartments and townhouses were the main driver of the fall. In original terms, apartments approved dropped 33.4 per cent to 2,704 — the second-lowest result in the past 12 months — with only 527 new apartments approved in New South Wales and 342 in Victoria. Townhouse approvals also declined in August, down 19.1 per cent to 2,424 in original terms, compared with a monthly average of 2,632 over the previous 12 months.
Despite fewer homes being approved, the value of total building approvals rose 8.6 per cent to $17.09 billion, driven by a 26.1 per cent jump in non-residential approvals to $7.92 billion. The value of total residential building fell 3.1 per cent to $9.17 billion, comprising a 2.0 per cent drop in new residential work to $8.03 billion and a 9.9 per cent fall in alterations and additions to $1.14 billion.
Unless otherwise stated, figures are seasonally adjusted. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Building Approvals, Australia.
