Building approvals slide in December

Building approvals slide in December | Insurance Business Australia

Insurance News

Building approvals slide in December

Decline in apartment approvals drives the fall

Insurance News

By
Mina Martin

The total number of dwellings approved in Australia experienced a notable 9.5% decline in December, in seasonally adjusted terms, reversing the 0.3% rise observed in November, according to the latest data released by ABS.

Daniel Rossi, head of construction statistics at ABS, highlighted that the December decline was primarily steered by a substantial 25.3% fall in approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses.

“In 2023, there were 59,174 private other dwellings approved, compared to 73,041 in 2022,” Rossi said. “This reflects a 19% annual fall. Approvals in less volatile, private sector houses, fell 0.5% in December.”

Breaking down the regional impact, total dwelling approvals took a hit in Victoria (-18.4%), South Australia (-11.8%), and Tasmania (-2.7%). Conversely, there were increases in Queensland (8.2%), Western Australia (7.9%), and New South Wales (2%).

Analysing approvals for private sector houses, South Australia (-5.3%), New South Wales (-2.6%), and Queensland (-0.4%) experienced declines, while Western Australia (2.2%) and Victoria (1.2%) saw modest increases in December.

The overall value of total building approved witnessed a 6.4% decrease, following a sharp 10.4% drop in November. Within this, the value of total residential building fell by 3.7%, with a 3.8% decrease in new residential building and a 2.8% fall in alterations and additions.

Non-residential building approvals were not immune to the trend, with the value falling by 10.6% in December, following a substantial 19.8% fall in November, ABS reported.

To compare the latest figures with previous ABS data, click here and here.

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