4 July 2013

Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)

118/2013

ABS Building Approvals show that the total number of private sector house approvals rose 1.5% in trend terms in May. This contributed to the 1.0% increase in the total number of dwelling units approved.

Dwelling approvals increased in May in the Australian Capital Territory (4.1 per cent), Tasmania (3.6 per cent), Western Australia (2.7 per cent), South Australia (1.8 per cent), Victoria (1.2 per cent) and New South Wales (0.8 per cent) but decreased in the Northern Territory (-4.9 per cent) and Queensland (-0.5 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses increased for the six consecutive month in May. Of the states and territories, New South Wales (2.6 per cent), Victoria (2.3 per cent) and South Australia (2.2 per cent) experienced the largest rises in private sector house approvals.

The trend value of total building approved rose 1.9 per cent in May and has risen for 16 months. The value of residential building was flat while non-residential building rose 4.1 per cent.

This media release focuses on movements in the trend as seasonally adjusted month to month movements can be highly volatile and are not necessarily indicative of the underlying behaviour in approvals data.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au

Media Note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.