MEDIA RELEASE
30 August 2011	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	99/2011

ABS Building Approvals show that the total number of dwellings approved rose 1.0% in July 2011, in seasonally adjusted terms, after falling 3.6% in June.

Dwelling approvals increased for the month of July in New South Wales (5.4%) but decreased in Tasmania (-26.3%), South Australia (-8.8%), Victoria (-3.1%), Queensland (-1.8%) and Western Australia (-1.4%) in seasonally adjusted terms.

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.2% in July with falls in Queensland (-14.5%), Western Australia (-8.2%) and South Australia (-3.0%) while there were rises in Victoria (8.7%) and New South Wales (4.6%).

The value of total building approved fell 4.4% in July in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of total residential building fell by 1.2% while non-residential building fell by 9.7% after a 3.5% rise in June.

Widespread flooding, and other natural disasters, in the eastern states during late 2010 and early 2011 have not adversely affected participation by providers in the Building Approvals collection or the quality of estimates in this release. However, these events may have had an impact on the number of approved dwellings and the value of approved work.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0).

As previously advertised, in the July 2011 issue of Building Approvals a range of changes have be made to improve readability for users and to implement the Australian Statistical Geography Standard. For detail, please see the 'Changes In This Issue' heading of the Building Approvals publication on the ABS website.

Media note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.