8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Apr 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/05/2018   
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30 May 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)
Dwelling approvals fall in April

The number of dwellings approved in Australia fell by 0.1 per cent in April 2018 in trend terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

"The total dwellings series has been relatively stable for the past eight months, with around 19,000 dwellings approved per month," said Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. "The strength in approvals for houses is being offset by weakness in semi-detached and attached dwelling approvals."

Among the states and territories, dwelling approvals fell in April in Tasmania (3.7 per cent), Victoria (2.3 per cent) and Western Australia (2.2 per cent) in trend terms.

Dwelling approvals rose in trend terms in the Australian Capital Territory (14.8 per cent), the Northern Territory (6.7 per cent), South Australia (1.7 per cent), New South Wales (0.9 per cent) and Queensland (0.7 per cent).

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 0.9 per cent in April. Private sector house approvals rose in Queensland (1.6 per cent), Victoria (1.5 per cent) and New South Wales (0.6 per cent), but fell in Western Australia (0.9 per cent) and South Australia (0.4 per cent).

In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings fell by 5.0 per cent in April, driven by a 11.5 per cent decrease in private sector dwellings excluding houses. Private sector houses rose 0.1 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

The value of total building approved fell 0.7 per cent in April, in trend terms, and has fallen for six months. The value of residential building fell 0.5 per cent while non-residential building fell 1.0 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:
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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