Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
February 2026
Released
1/04/2026
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Release date and time
01/04/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

The February 2026 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved rose 29.7% to 19,022
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 101.2% to 8,922 and private sector houses rose 0.2% to 9,847.
  • The value of total residential building rose 30.8% to $12.50b.
  • The value of total non-residential building fell 4.4% to $7.93b. 

Dwellings approved

February key figures
 Feb 26 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved19,02229.714.0
 Private sector houses9,8470.26.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses8,922101.224.6
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved17,5661.213.2
 Private sector houses9,8400.97.5
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses7,4221.722.4
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved rose 29.7%, after falling 7.2% in January.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 1.2%, following a 1.3% January gain. 
 

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

Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals rose 101.2%, after falling 25.0% in January.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.2%, after 1.7% January increase.  

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals increased 0.9%, following a 0.9% January rise. Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 1.7%, after rising 2.2% in January.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mostly higher: Victoria (85.1%), Queensland (14.7%), South Australia (12.3%), New South Wales (10.1%), and Western Australia (3.1%) rose. Total dwellings approved fell 27.7% in Tasmania.

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed: New South Wales (13.7%), Victoria (7.7%), and South Australia (5.8%) rose, while Queensland (-13.4%), and Western Australia (-7.1%) fell.

Dwellings approved, states and territories (a), seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,16513.74,33210.1
Victoria2,8947.76,08785.1
Queensland1,849-13.43,89014.7
South Australia8725.81,30612.3
Western Australia1,801-7.12,5633.1
Tasmanianana191-27.7
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,8470.219,02229.7

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. Western Australia (3.4%), Victoria (2.5%), South Australia (1.3%), and Australian Capital Territory (0.2%) rose in February, while the Northern Territory (-14.5%), New South Wales (-1.0%), Tasmania (-0.9%), and Queensland (-0.2%) fell.

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed. Western Australia (2.0%), Victoria (1.4%), South Australia (1.1%) rose, while Queensland (-1.6%) and New South Wales (-0.1%) fell.
 

Dwellings approved, states and territories (a), trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,898-0.14,122-1.0
Victoria2,7761.45,1142.5
Queensland2,030-1.63,803-0.2
South Australia8651.11,2651.3
Western Australia1,8392.02,4493.4
Tasmanianana218-0.9
Northern Territorynana47-14.5
Australian Capital Territorynana4220.2
Australia9,8400.917,5661.2

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 14.4% (to $20.43b), after a 7.8% January rise. The value of total residential building rose 30.8% (to $12.50b), comprised of a 35.9% rise in new residential work (to $11.21b) and a 1.2% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.29b).

The value of non-residential building fell 4.4% (to $7.93b), after rising 19.5% in January.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.1% (to $17.61b), after a 0.5% rise in January. The value of total residential building fell 0.9% (to $9.80b), after a 0.7% decrease in January. New residential building value fell 1.2% (to $8.50b) and alterations and additions rose 1.5% (to $1.30b).

The value of non-residential building rose 1.3% (to $7.81b), after a 2.2% January rise.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building11,21035.98,504-1.2
Alterations and additions to residential building1,287-1.21,2961.5
Total residential building12,49730.89,800-0.9
Non-residential building7,933-4.47,8081.3
Total building20,43014.417,6080.1

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 [53.61 KB]

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

    Download xlsx [59.14 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 January 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 Wales66244
Victoria47174
Queensland2678
South Australia1-67
Western Australia-160
Tasmania1-
Northern Territory17945
Australian Capital Territory-106
Total319640

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