8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Dec 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/02/2018   
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1 February 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)

Dwelling approvals fall 1.7 per cent in December

The number of dwellings approved fell 1.7 per cent in December 2017, in trend terms, and has fallen for three months, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

"Dwelling approvals have weakened in December, driven by a large decline in private dwellings excluding houses," said Daniel Rossi, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. "Approvals for private sector houses have remained stable, with just under 10,000 houses approved in December 2017."

Dwelling approvals decreased in December in the Australian Capital Territory (35.0 per cent), the Northern Territory (12.9 per cent), New South Wales (5.6 per cent), South Australia (2.4 per cent), Western Australia (1.3 per cent) and Queensland (0.8 per cent), but increased in Tasmania (3.1 per cent) and Victoria (2.5 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.2 per cent in December. Private sector house approvals fell in South Australia (1.5 per cent), Western Australia (0.9 per cent) and New South Wales (0.2 per cent) but rose in Queensland (0.4 per cent). Private house approvals were flat in Victoria.

In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals decreased by 20.0 per cent in December, driven by a fall in private dwellings excluding houses (39.2 per cent), while private house approvals rose 1.0 per cent.

The value of total building approved fell 0.3 per cent in December, in trend terms, after rising for 11 months. The value of residential building fell 0.2 per cent while non-residential building fell 0.4 per cent.
Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media note:
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