8731.0 - Building Approvals, Australia, Mar 2014 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/05/2014   
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MEDIA RELEASE
05 May 2014
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
51/2014

Private sector house approvals maintain strength in March

ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved fell 0.8 per cent in March 2014, in trend terms, and has fallen for two months.

Dwelling approvals increased trend terms in Tasmania (6.2 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (0.8 per cent) and New South Wales (0.6 per cent). Dwelling approvals decreased in March in Queensland (3.4 per cent), South Australia (1.5 per cent), Victoria (0.6 per cent) and Western Australia (0.1 per cent) in trend terms. In the Northern Territory the trend has fallen sharply in recent months but this should be interpreted with caution as the volatility of dwelling approvals series in the Northern Territory can produce unstable trend estimates.

Approvals for private sector houses in trend terms rose 1.1 per cent in March, rising for the fifteenth consecutive month. Private sector house approvals rose in South Australia (2.3 per cent), Western Australia (1.7 per cent), New South Wales (1.1 per cent) and Victoria (0.9 per cent) while they fell in Queensland (0.3 per cent).

The value of total building approved fell 2.3 per cent in March, in trend terms, and has fallen for three months. The value of residential building fell 0.9 per cent while non-residential building fell 4.6 per cent in trend terms.

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.
Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070