A rise in building approvals for apartments and townhouses has driven a 0.4 per cent increase in the total number of dwellings approved in Australia in February 2019, in trend terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
“Building approvals for private dwellings excluding houses rose 2.6 per cent in February.” said Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. “Meanwhile, private houses fell a further 0.8 per cent”.
Among the states and territories, total dwelling approvals rose in February in New South Wales (3.1 per cent) and Western Australia (2.0 per cent), in trend terms. Falls were recorded in the Northern Territory (6.5 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (6.3 per cent), Queensland (2.0 per cent), South Australia (1.1 per cent) and Victoria (0.8 per cent). Tasmania was flat.
Declines in approvals for private houses were recorded in New South Wales (2.0 per cent), Victoria (1.1 per cent) and Queensland (0.8 per cent), while increases were recorded in South Australia (2.0 per cent) and Western Australia (0.5 per cent).
In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings rose by 19.1 per cent in February, largely driven by rises in Victoria (37.3 per cent) and New South Wales (25.2 per cent). Private dwellings excluding houses rose 64.6 per cent, while private houses decreased by 3.6 per cent.
The value of total building approved rose 1.3 per cent in February, in trend terms. The value of non-residential building rose 1.9 per cent, while residential building increased 0.8 per cent.
