8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Feb 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/04/2018   
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4 April 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)

Dwelling approvals decline in February

The number of dwellings approved in Australia fell for the fifth straight month in February 2018 in trend terms with a 0.1 per cent decline, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Approvals for private sector houses have remained stable at around 10,000 for a number of months.

Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS said: "The decline in total dwellings was driven by private dwellings excluding houses, which have fallen for five consecutive months."

Among the states and territories, the biggest trend decrease in dwelling approvals in February was the Australian Capital Territory (18.7 per cent), followed by the Northern Territory (7.2 per cent), Western Australia (4.4 per cent), Tasmania (3.4 per cent) and South Australia (1.2 per cent).

There were increases in trend terms in New South Wales (1.0 per cent), Queensland (0.9 per cent) and Victoria (0.1 per cent).

Approvals for private sector houses rose 0.2 per cent in trend terms in February. Private sector house approvals rose in Victoria (1.1 per cent) and New South Wales (0.8 per cent), but fell in Queensland (1.1 per cent), South Australia (1.1 per cent) and Western Australia (0.5 per cent).

In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings fell by 6.2 per cent in February, driven by a 16.4 per cent decline in private sector dwellings excluding houses. Private sector houses rose 1.9 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

The value of total building approved fell 1.1 per cent in February, in trend terms, and has fallen for five months. The value of residential building fell 0.1 per cent while non-residential building fell 2.9 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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