The momentum of building approvals continued to ease in September especially in Sydney and Melbourne, indicating the massive construction bulge in residential building – especially apartments – may be shrinking.
The latest data from the ABS show that building approvals to end September 2016 fell again. The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.6% in September and has fallen for four months. The seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved fell 8.7% in September and has fallen for two months.
Moreover, in seasonally adjusted terms, whilst private house approvals rose by 2.3% to 9,605, dwellings excluding houses, i.e. apartments, crashed by 16.3% to 9,166. Unit counts have been very volatile. In trend terms we are still building more units than houses nationally.
Looking at the approvals (in original terms) across the main urban centres, in Greater Sydney approvals fell 16%, in Great Melbourne they were down 21%, in Great Brisbane they rose 12%, in Adelaide they were up 9%, whilst they fell in Perth.
The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 2.1% in September and has risen for 10 months. The value of residential building fell 0.1% and has fallen for two months. The value of non-residential building rose 6.0% and has risen for eight months.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building approved rose 29.9% in September following a fall of 7.7% in the previous month. The value of residential building fell 4.4% after rising for two months. The value of non-residential building rose 118.9% after falling for two months.
