Dwelling approvals fall in February

Media Release
Cite
Print
Released
2/04/2025
Source
Building Approvals, Australia, February 2025

The total number of dwellings approved fell 0.3 per cent to 16,606 in February, following a 6.9 per cent rise in January, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Brock Hermans, ABS head of construction statistics, said: 'Approvals were varied across the building types. Private dwellings excluding houses fell 1.5 per cent, while private sector house approvals were up 1.0 per cent.' 

New South Wales drives private sector house rise

Private sector houses across Australia rose 1.0 per cent (to 9,203 dwellings), 5.2 per cent higher than February 2024. This followed a 1.4 per cent rise in January. 

New South Wales was the main driver of the overall rise in detached house approvals, growing 5.1 per cent.

Private sector dwellings excluding houses remain high despite fall

Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.5 per cent (to 7,113 dwellings), after reaching a two-year high in January. Despite the drop, the series is 73.1 per cent higher than February last year. 

There were 313 new apartment approvals in New South Wales in February, in original terms. This follows 2,694 new apartments approved in January, which was the highest result since May 2023. 

Meanwhile, Victoria recorded a rise in apartment approvals with 2,294 new apartments approved in February, compared with 1,228 approved last month.

(a) Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.
 

Residential value records all-time high

The value of total building approved fell 3.1 per cent in February (to $14.34 billion), following a 7.1 per cent January drop. 

Total residential building value rose 5.0 per cent (to $9.65 billion), an all-time high for a second consecutive month. The result was comprised of a 5.8 per cent gain in the value of new residential building approved (to $8.49 billion) and a 0.3 per cent fall in the value of alterations and additions (to $1.16 billion).

The value of approved non-residential building fell 16.5 per cent (to $4.69 billion), after falling 21.6 per cent January, in seasonally adjusted terms, driving the overall fall in total building value. Despite the fall, the result was 2.1 per cent higher than February 2024.

More information is available in Building Approvals, Australia.

Media notes

  • "Private sector dwellings excluding houses" includes semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments.
  • All numbers in this media release are in seasonally adjusted terms, unless otherwise stated.
  • 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 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
  • Watch our data crash course, designed especially for journalists, to learn how to find, download and interpret our data.