8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Jan 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/03/2011   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
3 March, 2011
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
30/2011

Dwelling approvals fall in January 2011

ABS Building Approvals show that the total number of dwellings approved fell 15.9% in January 2011, in seasonally adjusted terms, after rising 10.0% in December.

According to the ABS all states and territories recorded fewer dwelling approvals this month. New South Wales (-12.1%), Victoria (-9.5%), Queensland (-29.9%), South Australia (-20.9%), Western Australia (-4.6%) and Tasmania (-34.9%) all recorded falls in seasonally adjusted terms.

Private sector houses approved fell 2.4% in seasonally adjusted terms for January with falls in Queensland (-20.0%) and South Australia (-3.6%), while New South Wales (1.8%), Victoria (2.5%) and Western Australia (0.2%) all increased.

The value of total building approved fell 26.5% in January in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of total residential building fell by 13.3% while non-residential building fell by 48.7%.

Widespread flooding in the eastern states, particularly Queensland, and other recent natural disasters have not adversely affected participation by providers in the Building Approvals collection or the quality of estimates in this release. However, these events have had an impact on the number of approved dwellings and the value of approved work in January 2011. As revisions may occur to these data in future releases, care should be taken when interpreting month to month movements.

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

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