Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
January 2026
Released
3/03/2026
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    Building Approvals, Australia, February 2026
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Release date and time
03/03/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

The January 2026 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 7.2% to 14,564
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 24.5% to 4,393 and private sector houses rose 1.1% to 9,753.
  • The value of total residential building fell 1.2% to $9.48b.
  • The value of total non-residential building rose 19.1% to $8.24b. 

Dwellings approved

January key figures
 Jan 26 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved14,564-7.2-15.7
 Private sector houses9,7531.17.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,393-24.5-44.2
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved16,386-0.16.0
 Private sector houses9,6810.66.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses6,362-1.16.2
  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 7.2%, after falling 14.9% in December.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.1%, following a 0.4% December fall. 
 

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

Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals fell 24.5%, after falling 30.7% in December.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 1.1%, following a 1.2% December rise.  

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.6%, following a 0.8% December increase. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.1%, after falling 2.2% in December.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed across the states: Victoria (-11.0%), South Australia (-9.3%), Queensland (-6.0%) and New South Wales (-5.1%) fell, while Tasmania (14.1%) and Western Australia (13.7%) rose.

Approvals for private sector houses were also mixed: Western Australia (11.5%), New South Wales (1.9%), and Queensland (1.8%) rose, while South Australia (-8.9%), and Victoria (-3.8%) 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 Wales1,9001.93,907-5.1
Victoria2,626-3.83,200-11.0
Queensland2,1721.83,489-6.0
South Australia826-8.91,162-9.3
Western Australia1,89611.52,41013.7
Tasmanianana25114.1
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,7531.114,564-7.2

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings were varied across the states and territories. Northern Territory (-4.5%), Victoria (-2.3%), Australian Capital Territory (-1.9%), and Queensland (-0.3%) fell in January, while Western Australia (2.5%), Tasmania (1.8%), New South Wales (1.0%), and South Australia (0.3%) rose.

Approvals for private sector houses rose across most states. Western Australia (2.6%), South Australia (0.9%), Queensland (0.8%), and New South Wales (0.2%) all rose. Victoria (-0.7%) recorded the only decrease.
 

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 Wales1,9190.24,1991.0
Victoria2,628-0.74,503-2.3
Queensland2,1630.83,555-0.3
South Australia8530.91,2380.3
Western Australia1,7982.62,2892.5
Tasmanianana2291.8
Northern Territorynana63-4.5
Australian Capital Territorynana318-1.9
Australia9,6810.616,386-0.1

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 7.3% (to $17.71b), after a 11.4% December fall. The value of total residential building fell 1.2% (to $9.48b), comprised of a 1.6% fall in new residential work (to $8.21b) and a 1.6% rise in alterations and additions (to $1.27b).

The value of non-residential building rose 19.1% (to $8.24b), after falling 5.2% in December.
 

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.7% (to $17.54b), after a 0.6% rise in December. The value of total residential building fell 0.3% (to $9.93b), after a flat movement last month. New residential building value fell 0.5% (to $8.68b) and alterations and additions rose 1.1% (to $1.25b).

The value of non-residential building rose 2.0% (to $7.60b), after a 1.4% December rise.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building8,214-1.68,680-0.5
Alterations and additions to residential building1,2651.61,2541.1
Total residential building9,479-1.29,934-0.3
Non-residential building8,23519.17,6042.0
Total building17,7157.317,5380.7

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 [53.62 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 2022 to December 2025. 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
  2022-23 to 2023-242024-252025-26
New South Wales28314717
Victoria196-165
Queensland29723185
South Australia4--23
Western Australia53263
Tasmania23-1-
Northern Territory9--5
Australian Capital Territory8--
Total873170302

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8731.0.

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 4 (SA4)
  • 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