MEDIA RELEASE
2 November 2011	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra time)	133/2011

ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved fell 13.6% in September 2011, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a rise of 10.7% in August.

Dwelling approvals decreased for the month of September in New South Wales (-32.2%), Victoria (-13.6%), Queensland (-12.7%), Tasmania (-4.8%) and Western Australia (-1.5%) but rose in South Australia (11.3%), in seasonally adjusted terms.

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 1.1% in September with rises in New South Wales (3.9%) and Victoria (2.1%), while there were falls in Queensland (-1.3%), South Australia (-1.2%) and Western Australia (-0.7%).

The value of total building approved decreased 13.3% in September in seasonally adjusted terms, following an increase of 14.6% in August. The value of residential building fell 9.4% while non-residential building fell 19.9%.

Widespread flooding, and other natural disasters, in the eastern states during late 2010 and early 2011 have not adversely affected participation by providers in the Building Approvals collection or the quality of estimates in this release. However, these events may have had an impact on the number of approved dwellings and the value of approved work.

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.