8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Sep 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/10/2018   
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30 October 2018

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)
Dwelling approvals fall in September

The number of dwellings approved in Australia fell by 1.9 per cent in September 2018 in trend terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

"The fall was mainly driven by private dwellings excluding houses, which decreased by 2.7 per cent in September," said Daniel Rossi, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. "Private sector houses also fell, by 1.5 per cent."

Among the states and territories, dwelling approvals fell in September in the Australian Capital Territory (8.4 per cent), Northern Territory (6.9 per cent), South Australia (3.9 per cent), Queensland (2.3 per cent), Western Australia (2.1 per cent), New South Wales (1.3 per cent) and Victoria (1.0 per cent) in trend terms. Tasmania was the only state to see an increase in dwelling approvals (1.5 per cent) in trend terms.

Approvals for private sector houses fell 1.5 per cent in September in trend terms. Private sector house approvals fell in Queensland (3.1 per cent), South Australia (3.0 per cent), Western Australia (2.2 per cent) and Victoria (1.7 per cent). New South Wales recorded an increase of 0.5 per cent.

In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings rose by 3.3 per cent in September, driven by a 9.2 per cent increase in private dwellings excluding houses. Private houses fell 2.7 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

The value of total building approved fell 1.3 per cent in September, in trend terms, and has fallen for eleven months. The value of residential building fell 1.7 per cent while non-residential building fell 0.7 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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