Dwelling approvals fall despite growth in private houses

Media Release

Released

4/04/2024

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, February 2024

The total number of dwellings approved fell 1.9 per cent in February (seasonally adjusted), after a 2.5 per cent fall in January, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "Approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 24.9 per cent in February in seasonally adjusted terms, driven by a fall in the number of approved large apartment projects."

"Approvals for private houses rose 10.7 per cent in February."

Approvals for private sector houses rose in all states: Western Australia (20.7 per cent), New South Wales (17.0 per cent), Victoria (12.4 per cent), Queensland (3.4 per cent), and South Australia (2.0 per cent).

Total dwelling approvals fell 28.5 per cent in Queensland. Meanwhile, rises were recorded in Tasmania (39.3 per cent), New South Wales (23.4 percent), South Australia (15.4 percent), Victoria (2.1 per cent), and Western Australia (0.9 per cent).

The value of total building approved fell 16.5 per cent, following a 14.5 per cent rise in January. The value of total residential building fell 16.8 per cent, comprised of a 19.1 per cent decrease in the value of new residential building and a 0.1 per cent fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building fell 16.0 per cent, after a 11.6 per cent rise in January.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia.

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted
	Total dwellings	Private sector houses	Private sector dwellings excluding houses
Feb-09	10,711	7,403	3,074
Mar-09	10,836	7,616	2,904
Apr-09	11,530	7,977	3,089
May-09	10,856	8,240	1,989
Jun-09	12,018	8,773	2,517
Jul-09	13,219	8,913	3,572
Aug-09	12,800	9,400	2,671
Sep-09	14,040	9,514	3,902
Oct-09	13,633	9,925	2,943
Nov-09	14,895	9,893	3,488
Dec-09	15,315	9,979	3,826
Jan-10	14,966	9,992	3,198
Feb-10	15,418	9,987	3,428
Mar-10	17,049	9,960	4,809
Apr-10	15,842	9,443	4,747
May-10	14,942	9,292	4,346
Jun-10	14,659	9,114	4,758
Jul-10	15,392	8,898	5,450
Aug-10	15,052	8,691	5,317
Sep-10	13,838	8,478	4,650
Oct-10	15,321	8,570	6,077
Nov-10	14,106	8,393	5,097
Dec-10	15,093	8,466	5,911
Jan-11	13,128	8,336	4,459
Feb-11	12,881	8,297	4,243
Mar-11	14,212	8,197	5,546
Apr-11	13,841	8,175	5,412
May-11	12,767	8,017	4,461
Jun-11	12,825	7,997	4,458
Jul-11	13,093	7,651	4,919
Aug-11	14,908	7,766	6,724
Sep-11	12,300	7,775	4,279
Oct-11	11,354	7,273	3,880
Nov-11	11,848	7,613	4,023
Dec-11	11,719	7,692	3,890
Jan-12	11,221	7,805	3,202
Feb-12	11,799	7,354	4,290
Mar-12	11,739	7,514	4,044
Apr-12	10,858	6,839	3,918
May-12	14,215	7,300	6,783
Jun-12	14,874	7,276	7,381
Jul-12	11,755	7,674	3,829
Aug-12	13,411	7,697	5,581
Sep-12	15,226	7,923	7,134
Oct-12	14,277	7,824	5,986
Nov-12	13,875	7,723	5,907
Dec-12	13,877	7,762	5,905
Jan-13	12,745	7,814	4,740
Feb-13	13,680	7,777	5,248
Mar-13	13,289	7,959	5,094
Apr-13	14,991	8,167	6,516
May-13	14,424	8,374	5,559
Jun-13	13,772	8,265	5,121
Jul-13	15,274	8,530	6,408
Aug-13	14,887	8,410	6,287
Sep-13	18,367	8,673	9,420
Oct-13	17,651	8,724	8,665
Nov-13	17,263	9,241	7,728
Dec-13	16,967	9,073	7,637
Jan-14	17,766	10,205	7,255
Feb-14	16,723	9,753	6,754
Mar-14	15,982	9,377	6,348
Apr-14	16,489	9,768	6,364
May-14	16,795	9,787	6,781
Jun-14	16,610	9,661	6,619
Jul-14	17,118	9,778	7,096
Aug-14	18,560	9,675	8,631
Sep-14	16,412	9,545	6,634
Oct-14	18,189	9,861	8,139
Nov-14	20,139	9,842	10,078
Dec-14	20,333	9,728	10,158
Jan-15	19,872	9,951	9,595
Feb-15	19,489	9,718	9,425
Mar-15	20,773	9,627	10,824
Apr-15	19,012	9,545	9,150
May-15	20,877	9,548	11,038
Jun-15	19,388	9,912	9,133
Jul-15	19,845	9,740	9,201
Aug-15	19,347	10,063	9,126
Sep-15	20,412	9,818	10,324
Oct-15	21,567	9,740	11,591
Nov-15	18,704	9,645	8,979
Dec-15	20,275	10,285	9,824
Jan-16	18,823	9,856	8,676
Feb-16	19,653	9,820	9,479
Mar-16	20,689	10,249	10,234
Apr-16	20,733	10,005	10,527
May-16	20,300	10,041	9,950
Jun-16	18,699	9,676	8,824
Jul-16	21,534	9,581	11,695
Aug-16	21,996	9,677	11,924
Sep-16	19,180	9,787	9,223
Oct-16	16,548	9,540	6,701
Nov-16	18,434	9,635	8,549
Dec-16	18,356	9,400	8,814
Jan-17	17,101	9,250	7,655
Feb-17	18,781	9,437	9,107
Mar-17	16,493	9,276	6,992
Apr-17	18,184	9,490	8,480
May-17	17,027	9,821	7,045
Jun-17	18,698	9,966	8,519
Jul-17	19,355	10,201	8,685
Aug-17	19,462	10,243	9,039
Sep-17	19,583	10,087	9,245
Oct-17	19,686	10,134	9,231
Nov-17	23,129	10,074	12,894
Dec-17	17,969	10,169	7,643
Jan-18	19,592	9,936	9,385
Feb-18	18,979	10,270	8,400
Mar-18	19,638	10,451	9,032
Apr-18	18,262	10,584	7,480
May-18	18,105	10,005	7,942
Jun-18	19,567	10,213	9,028
Jul-18	18,625	10,165	8,196
Aug-18	16,407	9,907	6,354
Sep-18	16,748	9,620	6,804
Oct-18	17,225	10,016	7,034
Nov-18	15,052	9,370	5,555
Dec-18	14,292	9,051	5,109
Jan-19	14,716	9,423	5,098
Feb-19	16,353	8,925	7,323
Mar-19	15,089	8,501	6,371
Apr-19	14,313	8,608	5,572
May-19	14,519	8,815	5,482
Jun-19	14,998	8,875	5,740
Jul-19	13,628	8,629	4,695
Aug-19	13,769	8,472	5,181
Sep-19	14,585	8,764	5,669
Oct-19	14,407	8,233	5,964
Nov-19	14,853	8,460	6,217
Dec-19	16,053	8,675	7,197
Jan-20	13,525	8,691	4,693
Feb-20	16,060	8,661	7,223
Mar-20	15,356	8,594	6,553
Apr-20	14,969	8,786	5,797
May-20	13,360	8,847	4,222
Jun-20	12,910	8,432	4,093
Jul-20	15,428	9,250	5,852
Aug-20	14,278	9,448	4,655
Sep-20	16,280	10,588	5,302
Oct-20	17,346	11,104	5,909
Nov-20	17,675	11,461	5,878
Dec-20	19,422	13,256	5,920
Jan-21	17,126	12,215	4,580
Feb-21	19,788	13,861	5,525
Mar-21	23,134	14,096	8,587
Apr-21	19,944	13,498	6,195
May-21	20,627	13,632	6,739
Jun-21	19,955	12,560	6,976
Jul-21	18,342	11,997	6,062
Aug-21	18,824	11,763	6,798
Sep-21	18,497	10,476	7,810
Oct-21	15,943	10,381	5,248
Nov-21	16,310	10,308	5,789
Dec-21	17,381	9,950	7,172
Jan-22	13,250	8,720	4,300
Feb-22	18,422	9,714	7,427
Mar-22	15,284	9,765	5,224
Apr-22	15,152	9,759	5,247
May-22	16,562	9,750	6,480
Jun-22	16,852	9,683	6,713
Jul-22	14,331	9,847	4,265
Aug-22	17,590	10,046	7,271
Sep-22	16,616	9,580	6,850
Oct-22	15,062	9,144	5,738
Nov-22	15,179	9,048	5,793
Dec-22	17,149	8,787	7,767
Jan-23	12,260	7,953	4,142
Feb-23	13,292	8,512	4,556
Mar-23	13,329	8,400	4,715
Apr-23	12,589	8,103	4,287
May-23	15,698	8,227	7,269
Jun-23	13,845	8,106	5,211
Jul-23	12,946	8,180	4,530
Aug-23	13,551	8,569	4,806
Sep-23	13,312	8,433	4,629
Oct-23	14,480	8,864	5,461
Nov-23	14,623	8,584	5,862
Dec-23	13,093	8,426	4,347
Jan-24	12,765	7,593	5,018
Feb-24	12,520	8,404	3,771

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted

["","Total dwellings","Private sector houses","Private sector dwellings excluding houses"]

[["Feb-09","Mar-09","Apr-09","May-09","Jun-09","Jul-09","Aug-09","Sep-09","Oct-09","Nov-09","Dec-09","Jan-10","Feb-10","Mar-10","Apr-10","May-10","Jun-10","Jul-10","Aug-10","Sep-10","Oct-10","Nov-10","Dec-10","Jan-11","Feb-11","Mar-11","Apr-11","May-11","Jun-11","Jul-11","Aug-11","Sep-11","Oct-11","Nov-11","Dec-11","Jan-12","Feb-12","Mar-12","Apr-12","May-12","Jun-12","Jul-12","Aug-12","Sep-12","Oct-12","Nov-12","Dec-12","Jan-13","Feb-13","Mar-13","Apr-13","May-13","Jun-13","Jul-13","Aug-13","Sep-13","Oct-13","Nov-13","Dec-13","Jan-14","Feb-14","Mar-14","Apr-14","May-14","Jun-14","Jul-14","Aug-14","Sep-14","Oct-14","Nov-14","Dec-14","Jan-15","Feb-15","Mar-15","Apr-15","May-15","Jun-15","Jul-15","Aug-15","Sep-15","Oct-15","Nov-15","Dec-15","Jan-16","Feb-16","Mar-16","Apr-16","May-16","Jun-16","Jul-16","Aug-16","Sep-16","Oct-16","Nov-16","Dec-16","Jan-17","Feb-17","Mar-17","Apr-17","May-17","Jun-17","Jul-17","Aug-17","Sep-17","Oct-17","Nov-17","Dec-17","Jan-18","Feb-18","Mar-18","Apr-18","May-18","Jun-18","Jul-18","Aug-18","Sep-18","Oct-18","Nov-18","Dec-18","Jan-19","Feb-19","Mar-19","Apr-19","May-19","Jun-19","Jul-19","Aug-19","Sep-19","Oct-19","Nov-19","Dec-19","Jan-20","Feb-20","Mar-20","Apr-20","May-20","Jun-20","Jul-20","Aug-20","Sep-20","Oct-20","Nov-20","Dec-20","Jan-21","Feb-21","Mar-21","Apr-21","May-21","Jun-21","Jul-21","Aug-21","Sep-21","Oct-21","Nov-21","Dec-21","Jan-22","Feb-22","Mar-22","Apr-22","May-22","Jun-22","Jul-22","Aug-22","Sep-22","Oct-22","Nov-22","Dec-22","Jan-23","Feb-23","Mar-23","Apr-23","May-23","Jun-23","Jul-23","Aug-23","Sep-23","Oct-23","Nov-23","Dec-23","Jan-24","Feb-24"],[[10711],[10836],[11530],[10856],[12018],[13219],[12800],[14040],[13633],[14895],[15315],[14966],[15418],[17049],[15842],[14942],[14659],[15392],[15052],[13838],[15321],[14106],[15093],[13128],[12881],[14212],[13841],[12767],[12825],[13093],[14908],[12300],[11354],[11848],[11719],[11221],[11799],[11739],[10858],[14215],[14874],[11755],[13411],[15226],[14277],[13875],[13877],[12745],[13680],[13289],[14991],[14424],[13772],[15274],[14887],[18367],[17651],[17263],[16967],[17766],[16723],[15982],[16489],[16795],[16610],[17118],[18560],[16412],[18189],[20139],[20333],[19872],[19489],[20773],[19012],[20877],[19388],[19845],[19347],[20412],[21567],[18704],[20275],[18823],[19653],[20689],[20733],[20300],[18699],[21534],[21996],[19180],[16548],[18434],[18356],[17101],[18781],[16493],[18184],[17027],[18698],[19355],[19462],[19583],[19686],[23129],[17969],[19592],[18979],[19638],[18262],[18105],[19567],[18625],[16407],[16748],[17225],[15052],[14292],[14716],[16353],[15089],[14313],[14519],[14998],[13628],[13769],[14585],[14407],[14853],[16053],[13525],[16060],[15356],[14969],[13360],[12910],[15428],[14278],[16280],[17346],[17675],[19422],[17126],[19788],[23134],[19944],[20627],[19955],[18342],[18824],[18497],[15943],[16310],[17381],[13250],[18422],[15284],[15152],[16562],[16852],[14331],[17590],[16616],[15062],[15179],[17149],[12260],[13292],[13329],[12589],[15698],[13845],[12946],[13551],[13312],[14480],[14623],[13093],[12765],[12520]],[[7403],[7616],[7977],[8240],[8773],[8913],[9400],[9514],[9925],[9893],[9979],[9992],[9987],[9960],[9443],[9292],[9114],[8898],[8691],[8478],[8570],[8393],[8466],[8336],[8297],[8197],[8175],[8017],[7997],[7651],[7766],[7775],[7273],[7613],[7692],[7805],[7354],[7514],[6839],[7300],[7276],[7674],[7697],[7923],[7824],[7723],[7762],[7814],[7777],[7959],[8167],[8374],[8265],[8530],[8410],[8673],[8724],[9241],[9073],[10205],[9753],[9377],[9768],[9787],[9661],[9778],[9675],[9545],[9861],[9842],[9728],[9951],[9718],[9627],[9545],[9548],[9912],[9740],[10063],[9818],[9740],[9645],[10285],[9856],[9820],[10249],[10005],[10041],[9676],[9581],[9677],[9787],[9540],[9635],[9400],[9250],[9437],[9276],[9490],[9821],[9966],[10201],[10243],[10087],[10134],[10074],[10169],[9936],[10270],[10451],[10584],[10005],[10213],[10165],[9907],[9620],[10016],[9370],[9051],[9423],[8925],[8501],[8608],[8815],[8875],[8629],[8472],[8764],[8233],[8460],[8675],[8691],[8661],[8594],[8786],[8847],[8432],[9250],[9448],[10588],[11104],[11461],[13256],[12215],[13861],[14096],[13498],[13632],[12560],[11997],[11763],[10476],[10381],[10308],[9950],[8720],[9714],[9765],[9759],[9750],[9683],[9847],[10046],[9580],[9144],[9048],[8787],[7953],[8512],[8400],[8103],[8227],[8106],[8180],[8569],[8433],[8864],[8584],[8426],[7593],[8404]],[[3074],[2904],[3089],[1989],[2517],[3572],[2671],[3902],[2943],[3488],[3826],[3198],[3428],[4809],[4747],[4346],[4758],[5450],[5317],[4650],[6077],[5097],[5911],[4459],[4243],[5546],[5412],[4461],[4458],[4919],[6724],[4279],[3880],[4023],[3890],[3202],[4290],[4044],[3918],[6783],[7381],[3829],[5581],[7134],[5986],[5907],[5905],[4740],[5248],[5094],[6516],[5559],[5121],[6408],[6287],[9420],[8665],[7728],[7637],[7255],[6754],[6348],[6364],[6781],[6619],[7096],[8631],[6634],[8139],[10078],[10158],[9595],[9425],[10824],[9150],[11038],[9133],[9201],[9126],[10324],[11591],[8979],[9824],[8676],[9479],[10234],[10527],[9950],[8824],[11695],[11924],[9223],[6701],[8549],[8814],[7655],[9107],[6992],[8480],[7045],[8519],[8685],[9039],[9245],[9231],[12894],[7643],[9385],[8400],[9032],[7480],[7942],[9028],[8196],[6354],[6804],[7034],[5555],[5109],[5098],[7323],[6371],[5572],[5482],[5740],[4695],[5181],[5669],[5964],[6217],[7197],[4693],[7223],[6553],[5797],[4222],[4093],[5852],[4655],[5302],[5909],[5878],[5920],[4580],[5525],[8587],[6195],[6739],[6976],[6062],[6798],[7810],[5248],[5789],[7172],[4300],[7427],[5224],[5247],[6480],[6713],[4265],[7271],[6850],[5738],[5793],[7767],[4142],[4556],[4715],[4287],[7269],[5211],[4530],[4806],[4629],[5461],[5862],[4347],[5018],[3771]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"no.","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Media notes

"Private sector dwellings excluding houses" includes semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments.
When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
The extra leap year day in 2024 is unlikely to impact seasonally adjusted statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for February 2024. This is because the impact of an additional leap year day is analysed as part of the seasonal adjustment process, which includes the impact of trading days. The impact of the extra leap year day will be evident in the original (non-seasonally adjusted) series. For further information please refer to this note. Accounting for the extra leap year day in ABS seasonally adjusted statistics | Australian Bureau of Statistics

APA

Citation

Dwelling approvals fall despite growth in private houses

APA

Citation

Media notes

Provide feedback