The ABS released their Building Activity to June 2015. Residential building rose in the quarter on a trend basis. Victoria shows the greatest momentum currently. We may be reaching “peak construction”, but there is little to indicate an impending fall at the moment.
The trend estimate of the value of total building work done rose 1.5% in the June 2015 quarter. The trend estimate of the value of new residential building work done rose 2.5%, with value of work done on new houses up 2.2% and other residential building up 3.0%.
The state mix is interesting, with Victoria the largest contributor at $4.5bn, against NSW $4.0bn, helped by large volumes of units being constructed.
The trend estimate of the value of non-residential building work done fell 0.1% in the June quarter.
The total number of dwelling units commenced rose 0.6% following a rise of 1.9% in the March quarter.
The trend estimate for new private sector house commencements fell 0.8% in the June quarter following a fall of 0.2% in the March quarter.
The trend estimate for new private sector other residential building commencements rose 0.6% in the June quarter following a rise of 3.0% in the March quarter.