The number of dwellings approved in Australia fell by 0.6 per cent in March 2019, in trend terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. This won’t help the GDP or construction employment.
“The overall decrease was driven by private sector houses, which declined 1.4 per cent in trend terms,” said Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. “
However, private dwellings excluding houses rose by 0.8 per cent”.
Among the states and territories, total dwelling approvals fell in Victoria (3.5 per cent) and Queensland (1.4 per cent) in trend terms. Increases were recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (4.8 per cent), the Northern Territory (3.9 per cent), Western Australia (3.8 per cent), New South Wales (0.8 per cent) and South Australia (0.4 per cent). Tasmania was flat.
Approvals for private sector houses fell 1.4 per cent nationally in trend terms. Declines were recorded in the three largest states: New South Wales (3.4 per cent), Victoria (1.8 per cent) and Queensland (0.9 per cent), while increases were recorded in Western Australia (1.0 per cent) and South Australia (0.9 per cent).
In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings declined by 15.5 per cent in March, largely driven by falls in New South Wales (27.4 per cent) and Victoria (27.0 per cent). The decline was led by private dwellings excluding houses which fell 30.6 per cent, while private house approvals decreased 3.2 per cent.
The value of total building approved was flat in March, in trend terms. The value of residential building rose 0.4 per cent, while non-residential building fell 0.6 per cent.
