8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Mar 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/05/2017   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
8 May 2017
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
49/2017

Trend dwelling approvals rise 0.8% in March

The number of dwellings approved in Australia rose 0.8 per cent in March 2017, in trend terms, after falling for nine months, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Dwelling approvals increased in March in New South Wales (3.0 per cent), Tasmania (1.6 per cent), Queensland (0.5 per cent) and Victoria (0.3 per cent), but decreased in the Northern Territory (19.1 per cent), Australian Capital Territory (7.1 per cent), Western Australia (1.9 per cent) and South Australia (0.1 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.6 per cent in March. Private sector house approvals fell in Queensland (2.0 per cent), South Australia (0.4 per cent) and Victoria (0.3 per cent), but rose in New South Wales (0.3 per cent) and Western Australia (0.1 per cent).

In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals decreased by 13.4 per cent in March, driven by a fall in total dwellings excluding houses (22.0 per cent) and total house approvals (5.0 per cent).

The value of total buildings approved rose 0.1 per cent in March, in trend terms, after falling for seven months. The value of residential building approved rose 1.0 per cent while non-residential building approved fell 1.9 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 notes:
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
  • For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070 (8.30am - 5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our email notification service and get media releases or products sent to you on release.