This release includes updated data on the average cost and average floor area for new dwellings in the Data downloads section. For more information please refer to the Article archive section.
Building Activity, Australia
Estimates of value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline
Key statistics
In seasonally adjusted terms:
- Total dwellings commenced rose 8.0% to 53,567 dwellings.
- New private sector houses commenced fell 0.9% to 28,469 dwellings.
- New private sector other residential commencements rose 23.4% to 23,849 dwellings.
- The value of total building work done rose 0.4% to $43.9b.
Dwellings commenced
| Dec qtr 25 no. | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New private sector houses | 28,469 | -0.9 | 7.6 |
| New private sector other residential | 23,849 | 23.4 | 63.7 |
| Total sector total dwellings | 53,567 | 8.0 | 26.1 |
| Dec qtr 25 no. | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New private sector houses | 28,537 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
| New private sector other residential | 22,433 | 9.9 | 43.1 |
| Total sector total dwellings | 52,283 | 5.0 | 18.5 |
Seasonally adjusted dwelling commencement series for Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory are available in the Data downloads. Caution should be exercised using these series, as the small numbers and volatile nature of these data makes reliable estimation of the seasonal pattern difficult.
Total dwellings commenced in Australia rose 8.0% to 53,567 dwellings in the December quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. Private sector other residential dwellings commenced rose 23.4% to 23,849 dwellings, following a rise of 6.1% in the September quarter. Private sector new houses commenced fell 0.9% to 28,469 dwellings, following a rise of 8.1% in the September quarter.
There were 236,858 total sector dwellings under construction in the December quarter, of which 88,630 were new houses.
Dwellings completed
| Dec qtr 25 no. | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New private sector houses | 26,052 | -3.9 | -7.3 |
| New private sector other residential | 16,172 | -1.1 | -2.0 |
| Total sector total dwellings | 43,536 | -1.7 | -3.9 |
| Dec qtr 25 no. | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New private sector houses | 26,288 | -2.5 | -6.3 |
| New private sector other residential | 16,160 | 7.1 | 4.9 |
| Total sector total dwellings | 43,598 | 1.2 | -1.8 |
Seasonally adjusted dwelling completion series for Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory are available in the Data downloads. Caution should be exercised using these series, as the small numbers and volatile nature of these data makes reliable estimation of the seasonal pattern difficult.
Total dwellings completed in Australia fell 1.7% to 43,536 dwellings in the December quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. Private new houses completed fell 3.9% to 26,052 dwellings. Private new other residential completions fell 1.1% from September to 16,172 dwellings.
In original terms, 47,803 dwellings were completed in the December quarter, a fall of 3.7% from December 2024.
Value of work done
| Dec qtr 25 $m | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New residential building | 23,189.4 | 0.6 | 7.7 | |
| Alterations and additions to residential building | 3,728.2 | -0.2 | 4.9 | |
| Non-residential building | 16,959.1 | 0.3 | 7.9 | |
| Total value of work done | 43,876.8 | 0.4 | 7.5 | |
| Dec qtr 25 $m | Sep qtr 25 to Dec qtr 25 % change | Dec qtr 24 to Dec qtr 25 % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New residential building | 23,252.4 | 2.2 | 8.1 | |
| Alterations and additions to residential building | 3,741.2 | 0.7 | 5.4 | |
| Non-residential building | 17,046.4 | 2.3 | 8.0 | |
| Total value of work done | 44,069.4 | 2.2 | 7.9 | |
- Reference year for chain volume measures is 2023-2024
The value of total building work done rose 0.4% to $43.9b in the December quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The rise was driven by new residential building work done, which rose 0.6% to $23.2b. Alterations and additions to residential buildings fell 0.2% to $3.7b. Work done on non-residential building rose 0.3% to $17.0b and is 7.9% higher than December 2024.
Data downloads
Time series spreadsheets
TABLE 01. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Australia - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 02. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 03. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Australia - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 04. Value of Residential Building Work Done, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 05. Value of Building Work Commenced by Sector, Australia - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 06. Value of Building Work Commenced by Sector, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 07. Value of Residential Building Work Commenced by Sector, Australia - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 08. Value of Residential Building Work Commenced, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 09. Value of Building Work Done, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures
TABLE 10. Value of Building Work Done, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures: Original
TABLE 11. Value of Building Work Commenced, States and Territories - Chain Volume Measures: Original
TABLE 12. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Australia
TABLE 13. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, New South Wales
TABLE 14. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Victoria
TABLE 15. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Queensland
TABLE 16. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, South Australia
TABLE 17. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Western Australia
TABLE 18. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Tasmania
TABLE 19. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Northern Territory
TABLE 20. Value of Building Work Done by Sector, Australian Capital Territory
TABLE 21. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Australia
TABLE 22. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, New South Wales
TABLE 23. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Victoria
TABLE 24. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Queensland
TABLE 25. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, South Australia
TABLE 26. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Western Australia
TABLE 27. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Tasmania
TABLE 28. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Northern Territory
TABLE 29. Value of Residential Building Work Done by Sector, Australian Capital Territory
TABLE 30. Value of Building Work Commenced by Sector, Australia
TABLE 31. Value of Residential Building Work Commenced by Sector, Australia
TABLE 32. Value of Total Building Work Done, States and Territories
TABLE 33. Number of Dwelling Unit Commencements by Sector, Australia
TABLE 34. Number of Dwelling Unit Commencements by Sector, States and Territories
TABLE 35. Number of Dwelling Unit Commencements, States and Territories
TABLE 36. Number of Dwelling Unit Commencements by Sector, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 37. Number of Dwelling Unit Completions by Sector, Australia
TABLE 38. Number of Dwelling Unit Completions by Sector, States and Territories
TABLE 39. Number of Dwelling Unit Completions by Sector, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 40. Value of Building Work by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 41. Value of Building Work by Sector, New South Wales: Original
TABLE 42. Value of Building Work by Sector, Victoria: Original
TABLE 43. Value of Building Work by Sector, Queensland: Original
TABLE 44. Value of Building Work by Sector, South Australia: Original
TABLE 45. Value of Building Work by Sector, Western Australia: Original
TABLE 46. Value of Building Work by Sector, Tasmania: Original
TABLE 47. Value of Building Work by Sector, Northern Territory: Original
TABLE 48. Value of Building Work by Sector, Australian Capital Territory: Original
TABLE 49. Value of Building Work Under Construction, by Sector, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 50. Value of Building Work Yet to be Done, by Sector, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 51. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 52. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, New South Wales: Original
TABLE 53. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Victoria: Original
TABLE 54. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Queensland: Original
TABLE 55. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, South Australia: Original
TABLE 56. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Western Australia: Original
TABLE 57. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Tasmania: Original
TABLE 58. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Northern Territory: Original
TABLE 59. Value of Non-residential Building Work Done, by Sector, Australian Capital Territory: Original
TABLE 60. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 61. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, New South Wales: Original
TABLE 62. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Victoria: Original
TABLE 63. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Queensland: Original
TABLE 64. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, South Australia: Original
TABLE 65. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Western Australia: Original
TABLE 66. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Tasmania: Original
TABLE 67. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Northern Territory: Original
TABLE 68. Value of Non-residential Building Work Commenced, by Sector, Australian Capital Territory: Original
TABLE 69. Value of Non-residential Building Work Under Construction, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 70. Value of Non-residential Building Work Under Construction, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 71. Value of Non-residential Building Work Completed, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 72. Value of Non-residential Building Work Completed, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 73. Value of Non-residential Building Work Yet to be Done, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 74. Value of Non-residential Building Work Yet to be Done, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 75. Value of Building Work Completed by Sector, Australia
TABLE 76. Number of Dwelling Units Under Construction, by Sector, Australia: Original
TABLE 77. Number of Dwelling Units Under Construction, by Sector, States and Territories: Original
TABLE 78. Value of Work in the Pipeline, Current Prices, Original, Australia
TABLE 79. Value of Work in the Pipeline, States and Territories, Current Prices, Original
TABLE 80. Number of Dwellings Approved but Not Yet Commenced at End of Quarter, States and Territories, Original
Data items in the Building Activity: Australia pivot table
Data cubes
Relative standard errors, value by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia
Relative standard errors, dwellings by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia
Relative standard errors; non-residential building by sector and stage of construction, state and Australia
Relative standard errors; value of work in pipeline; state and Australia
Building activity: validation table for data cube
Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
Building activity: Australia
Building Activity Average Cost
Building Activity Average Floor Area
Data Explorer datasets
Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.
Building Activity by state - value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline.
About this issue
This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia. The data in this publication are based on a response rate of approximately 85% of the value of building work done during the quarter, which is lower than the long term response rate average. The data are subject to revision when the next quarter's survey responses are processed. Final data for the December 2025 quarter will be released in the next edition of this publication, Building Activity, Australia on 8 July 2026.
Several time series spreadsheets contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations from the September quarter 2012 onwards. This is due to suppressing confidential data in these series.
Changes this release
Revisions
Article archive
The following data cubes provide additional insights into Building Activity and are updated annually. Refer to the Data Downloads section of the relevant Building Activity release.
June quarter:
- Building Activity Average Dwelling Commencement Times
- Building Activity Average Dwelling Completion times
- Building Activity Abandonment Rates for New Dwellings
December quarter:
- Building Activity Average Cost
- Building Activity Average Floor Area
Home building through the pandemic, June quarter 2024
Building a New Home: Construction Cost Changes, June quarter 2020
Small Area Dwelling Completions, June quarter 2020
Telling storeys - Apartment building heights, December quarter 2019
Characteristics of new residential dwellings - A 15 year summary, December quarter 2019
Abandonment rates for new dwellings, June quarter 2019
Average dwelling commencement times, June quarter 2019
Average dwelling completion times, June quarter 2019
Revisions to building activity statistics, December quarter 2015
Average floor area of new residential dwellings, June quarter 2013
A twenty year history of the cost of building a new house, December quarter 2008
Additional Building and Construction feature articles can be found in Feature Articles by Catalogue Number
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 8752.0.
Methodology
Scope
Building activity in Australia on approved work greater than $10,000, including:
- new building construction
- alterations and additions to existing buildings
- non-structural renovation and refurbishment
- installation of integral building fixtures
Geography
Data available for:
- Australia
- States and territories
- select series at Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA).
Source
Building Activity Survey.
The survey sample is selected from approved building jobs notified to the ABS Building Approvals, Australia collection.
Collection method
Survey responses from builders and other individuals and organisations engaged in building activity, compiled from:
- online forms
- paper forms
- telephone calls
- approval information
Concepts, sources and methods
Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.
History of changes
- Trend series were reinstated in the September 2022 release.
- Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated in the September 2022 release.