8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Jan 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/03/2018   
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5 March 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)

Dwelling approvals up 0.1 per cent in January


The number of dwellings approved rose 0.1 per cent in January 2018, in trend terms, after falling for the previous three months, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

"Dwelling approvals rose in January, driven by a large increase in private dwellings excluding houses," said Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. "Approvals for private sector houses have remained stable."

Dwelling approvals increased in Victoria (2.6 per cent), Tasmania (2.0 per cent), Queensland (1.1 per cent) and Western Australia (0.5 per cent), but decreased in the Australian Capital Territory (32.6 per cent), the Northern Territory (9.3 per cent), South Australia (3.2 per cent) and New South Wales (2.3 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.1 per cent in January. Private sector house approvals fell in Queensland (1.6 per cent) and South Australia (1.4 per cent), but rose in New South Wales (0.7 per cent), Victoria (0.3 per cent) and Western Australia (0.3 per cent).

The value of total building approved fell 1.4 per cent in January, in trend terms, and has now fallen for four months. The value of residential building rose 0.5 per cent while non-residential building fell 4.7 per cent.
Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media note:
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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