1367.5 - Western Australian Statistical Indicators, Jun 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/07/2008   
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CONSTRUCTION

BUILDING APPROVALS

In Western Australia the number of house approvals (trend) has continued to decline for 26 consecutive months between February 2006 (1,893) and April 2008 (1,324) - down 30.1% or 569 approvals. During the period of decline, house approvals fell by 1.4% (22 approvals) on average per month. In the three months to April 2008, a total of 4,058 houses were approved for construction in Western Australia, 6.1% (264) less than in the previous three month period. Despite the fall in house approvals, other residential dwelling approvals have risen 8.9% (133 approvals) in the three months to April 2008 - other dwellings comprise semi-detached houses, townhouses and flats, units and apartments.

NUMBER OF DWELLINGS APPROVED, Houses: Trend
Graph: NUMBER OF DWELLINGS APPROVED, Houses: Trend


In the three months to April 2008, the number of new house approvals (original) in Western Australia fell by 5.3% (218 approvals), from the previous three month period. In contrast, the total number of building approvals recorded a growth (up 0.3% or 17 approvals), following decreases of 6.0% (381 approvals) and 5.1% (304 approvals) in the three months to October 2007 and January 2008 respectively. In terms of value of approval, new houses declined (down 5.3% or $60 million) to $1,066 million and the value of total building approvals also decreased (down 31.6% or $1,082 million) to $2,343 million in the three months to April 2008.