Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
May 2026
Released
1/07/2026
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Release date and time
01/07/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

The May 2026 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 1.1% to 17,019.
  • Private sector houses rose 2.8% to 10,537, and private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 10.4% to 6,034.
  • The value of total residential building fell 5.7% to $10.24b.
  • The value of total non-residential building rose 41.0% to $10.83b. 

Dwellings approved

May key figures
 May 26 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved17,019-1.15.3
 Private sector houses10,5372.813.2
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses6,034-10.4-8.6
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved17,423-0.58.8
 Private sector houses10,4550.912.4
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses6,580-2.64.1
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved fell 1.1%, after falling 0.2% in April.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.5%, following a 0.3% April rise. 

  1. Trend break added to 'Private sector houses' trend series for February 2021

Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals fell 10.4%, after a 4.0% rise in April.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 2.8%, after falling 0.4% in April.  

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals gained 0.9%, following a 1.2% April rise. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 2.6%, after a fall of 1.1% in April.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed: Queensland (-8.8%), Victoria (-3.0%), and Western Australia (-1.3%) fell in May, while approvals rose in South Australia (10.9%), Tasmania (4.8%), and New South Wales (2.2%).

Approvals for private sector houses were also mixed: Western Australia (9.9%), New South Wales (7.8%), and Victoria (2.2%) rose, while Queensland (-3.6%) and South Australia (-1.0%) fell.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,2847.84,4652.2
Victoria2,9482.24,808-3.0
Queensland2,266-3.63,602-8.8
South Australia894-1.01,47110.9
Western Australia1,7949.92,048-1.3
Tasmanianana3054.8
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia10,5372.817,019-1.1

a.    Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings varied across the states and territories. Australian Capital Territory (-12.9%), Queensland (-1.9%), and Victoria (-1.5%) fell in May, while the Northern Territory (14.5%), Tasmania (6.1%), South Australia (2.5%), Western Australia (0.6%), and New South Wales (0.3%) rose.

Approvals for private sector houses were mostly higher: New South Wales (1.8%), Victoria (1.0%), South Australia (0.9%), and Queensland (0.7%) rose, while Western Australia (-0.6%) fell.

 

Dwellings approved, states and territories, trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,2641.84,3560.3
Victoria2,9421.05,056-1.5
Queensland2,3050.73,765-1.9
South Australia8850.91,3692.5
Western Australia1,723-0.62,3020.6
Tasmanianana2786.1
Northern Territorynana9514.5
Australian Capital Territorynana189-12.9
Australia10,4550.917,423-0.5

a.    Trend estimates are not published for Tasmania, NT and ACT for private sector houses.

Value of building approved

  1. Trend break added to 'Total residential' trend series for September 2020 and February 2021.

Value of building approved, seasonally adjusted

The value of total building work approved rose 13.6% (to $21.07b), after a 7.9% April rise. The value of total residential building fell 5.7% (to $10.24b), comprised of a 6.6% fall in new residential building (to $8.88b) and a 0.1% rise in alterations and additions (to $1.35b).

The value of non-residential building rose 41.0% (to $10.83b), after rising 22.9% in April.

 

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved fell 0.3% (to $17.96b), after a flat April movement. The value of total residential building fell 0.1% (to $10.55b), after a 0.7% April gain. New residential building value fell 0.2% (to $9.19b) and alterations and additions rose 0.6% (to $1.37b).

The value of non-residential building fell 0.6% (to $7.41b), after a 1.0% April decrease.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building8,885-6.69,186-0.2
Alterations and additions to residential building1,3540.11,3680.6
Total residential building10,240-5.710,554-0.1
Non-residential building10,83341.07,409-0.6
Total building21,07213.617,963-0.3

Data downloads

Dwellings approved

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Data files

Value of building approved

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Data files

Non-residential building approved

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Data files

Chain volume measures

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Data files

Demolitions

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Data files

  • Table 87. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, original, states and territories

    Download xlsx [53.75 KB]

  • Table 88. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, by Greater Capital City Statistical Area - original

    Download xlsx [59.34 KB]

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the time period when using Data Explorer.

Help for: Data Explorer Datasets

Building Approvals by Greater Capital Cities Statistical Area (GCCSA) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2001 onwards

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2024 to April 2026. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found here: "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".

Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:

Dwellings revised
  2024-252025-26
New South Wales-9339
Victoria-28
Queensland97373
South Australia1015
Western Australia916
Tasmania--3
Northern Territory--
Australian Capital Territory-4
Total107772

Article archive

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Methodology

Scope

Approvals included:

  • construction of new buildings
  • alterations and additions to existing buildings
  • non-structural renovation and refurbishment
  • installation of integral building fixtures
  • full demolitions of existing dwellings.

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
  • Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2)
  • Local Government Areas.

Source

Administrative data collection from local government or other approving authorities.

Collection method

Statistics of building work approved are compiled from:

  • local government authorities and other principal certifying authorities
  • contracts authorised by government authorities
  • media reports and the Building Activity Survey.

Concepts, sources and methods

A building approval is the official permit that allows construction to begin.

Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.

History of changes

Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated from the May 2022 release.

View full methodology

Media releases