Private house approvals hit 10-year low

Media Release

Released

2/03/2023

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, January 2023

The total number of dwellings approved fell 27.6 per cent in January (seasonally adjusted) after a 15.3 per cent increase in December, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "Approvals for private sector houses fell by 13.8 per cent, the fifth consecutive drop, to be the lowest result recorded since June 2012".

"The more volatile, private sector dwellings excluding houses series, fell 40.8 per cent, following a 41.9 per cent rise in December".

Across Australia, total dwelling approvals decreased in New South Wales (-49.0 per cent), Victoria (-38.6 per cent), Tasmania (-31.7 per cent), Western Australia (-7.9 per cent), and South Australia (-6.5 per cent). Only Queensland recorded an increase (+25.6 per cent), driven by apartment developments approved in January.

Approvals for private sector houses fell in all states: Western Australia (-18.7 per cent), New South Wales (-17.3 per cent), Queensland (-16.6 per cent), Victoria (-9.9 per cent) and South Australia (-2.8 per cent).

The value of total building approvals fell 18.6 per cent, following a 1.0 per cent increase in December. The value of total residential building approvals fell 13.6 per cent, comprised of a 15.1 per cent decrease in new residential building and a 4.0 per cent fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building approved decreased 25.6 per cent, following a 1.6 per cent fall in December.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia.

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted
	Total dwellings (Dwellings approved no.)	Private sector houses (Dwellings approved no.)	Private sector dwellings excluding houses (Dwellings approved no.)
Jan-08	14,338	9,322	4,629
Feb-08	13,699	9,261	4,093
Mar-08	12,491	8,835	3,468
Apr-08	13,676	9,067	4,300
May-08	13,101	8,744	3,988
Jun-08	13,471	8,751	4,237
Jul-08	13,171	8,307	4,426
Aug-08	12,392	8,121	3,914
Sep-08	11,712	7,680	3,678
Oct-08	11,521	7,573	3,689
Nov-08	10,322	7,185	2,813
Dec-08	10,203	6,996	2,558
Jan-09	9,418	7,205	2,015
Feb-09	10,712	7,403	3,074
Mar-09	10,834	7,611	2,907
Apr-09	11,491	7,946	3,084
May-09	10,853	8,236	1,989
Jun-09	12,015	8,772	2,518
Jul-09	13,218	8,912	3,572
Aug-09	12,797	9,402	2,670
Sep-09	14,064	9,514	3,901
Oct-09	13,629	9,925	2,942
Nov-09	14,891	9,892	3,488
Dec-09	15,317	9,982	3,828
Jan-10	14,974	9,989	3,199
Feb-10	15,419	9,986	3,429
Mar-10	17,051	9,956	4,813
Apr-10	15,855	9,461	4,746
May-10	14,943	9,293	4,345
Jun-10	14,654	9,113	4,757
Jul-10	15,391	8,896	5,451
Aug-10	15,046	8,689	5,316
Sep-10	13,865	8,480	4,647
Oct-10	15,314	8,568	6,075
Nov-10	14,102	8,392	5,099
Dec-10	15,095	8,467	5,914
Jan-11	13,126	8,337	4,457
Feb-11	12,881	8,296	4,244
Mar-11	14,210	8,194	5,547
Apr-11	13,837	8,171	5,411
May-11	12,766	8,015	4,462
Jun-11	12,822	7,997	4,455
Jul-11	13,093	7,649	4,920
Aug-11	14,902	7,767	6,718
Sep-11	12,302	7,773	4,282
Oct-11	11,352	7,274	3,877
Nov-11	11,847	7,613	4,022
Dec-11	11,727	7,693	3,897
Jan-12	11,222	7,805	3,203
Feb-12	11,796	7,353	4,287
Mar-12	11,738	7,510	4,047
Apr-12	10,849	6,835	3,913
May-12	14,216	7,299	6,786
Jun-12	14,875	7,274	7,383
Jul-12	11,755	7,674	3,830
Aug-12	13,413	7,698	5,583
Sep-12	15,221	7,924	7,128
Oct-12	14,276	7,826	5,984
Nov-12	13,876	7,720	5,909
Dec-12	13,875	7,764	5,901
Jan-13	12,748	7,813	4,746
Feb-13	13,678	7,776	5,247
Mar-13	13,294	7,957	5,100
Apr-13	14,979	8,160	6,512
May-13	14,426	8,371	5,564
Jun-13	13,771	8,265	5,120
Jul-13	15,270	8,528	6,407
Aug-13	14,893	8,414	6,289
Sep-13	18,364	8,675	9,415
Oct-13	17,647	8,724	8,662
Nov-13	17,256	9,241	7,721
Dec-13	16,970	9,077	7,636
Jan-14	17,774	10,200	7,268
Feb-14	16,718	9,750	6,752
Mar-14	15,983	9,372	6,353
Apr-14	16,476	9,755	6,365
May-14	16,801	9,786	6,788
Jun-14	16,612	9,663	6,618
Jul-14	17,115	9,775	7,098
Aug-14	18,578	9,689	8,633
Sep-14	16,414	9,546	6,633
Oct-14	18,192	9,859	8,144
Nov-14	20,115	9,844	10,051
Dec-14	20,328	9,727	10,156
Jan-15	19,881	9,936	9,619
Feb-15	19,481	9,716	9,418
Mar-15	20,784	9,628	10,835
Apr-15	19,050	9,581	9,152
May-15	20,895	9,547	11,058
Jun-15	19,389	9,914	9,133
Jul-15	19,854	9,741	9,211
Aug-15	19,365	10,079	9,128
Sep-15	20,412	9,814	10,326
Oct-15	21,585	9,741	11,609
Nov-15	18,646	9,656	8,910
Dec-15	20,256	10,281	9,809
Jan-16	18,834	9,824	8,719
Feb-16	19,646	9,830	9,462
Mar-16	20,697	10,237	10,255
Apr-16	20,742	10,006	10,534
May-16	20,315	10,025	9,981
Jun-16	18,703	9,672	8,832
Jul-16	21,566	9,594	11,715
Aug-16	22,018	9,695	11,928
Sep-16	19,163	9,792	9,199
Oct-16	16,576	9,542	6,726
Nov-16	18,369	9,635	8,487
Dec-16	18,335	9,405	8,789
Jan-17	17,067	9,181	7,689
Feb-17	18,777	9,442	9,099
Mar-17	16,513	9,299	6,990
Apr-17	18,199	9,480	8,504
May-17	17,041	9,804	7,076
Jun-17	18,702	9,972	8,517
Jul-17	19,410	10,210	8,733
Aug-17	19,470	10,251	9,039
Sep-17	19,558	10,103	9,199
Oct-17	19,730	10,116	9,290
Nov-17	22,980	10,070	12,752
Dec-17	17,956	10,189	7,612
Jan-18	19,601	9,865	9,466
Feb-18	18,952	10,278	8,366
Mar-18	19,636	10,474	9,007
Apr-18	18,378	10,594	7,584
May-18	18,096	9,945	7,992
Jun-18	19,580	10,250	9,003
Jul-18	18,669	10,142	8,264
Aug-18	16,439	9,974	6,318
Sep-18	16,680	9,596	6,756
Oct-18	17,316	10,012	7,129
Nov-18	14,941	9,363	5,451
Dec-18	14,289	9,072	5,090
Jan-19	14,640	9,307	5,138
Feb-19	16,319	8,933	7,281
Mar-19	15,099	8,553	6,329
Apr-19	14,457	8,581	5,738
May-19	14,519	8,821	5,477
Jun-19	15,014	8,887	5,745
Jul-19	13,661	8,632	4,729
Aug-19	13,792	8,534	5,138
Sep-19	14,517	8,740	5,624
Oct-19	14,484	8,172	6,101
Nov-19	14,623	8,468	5,980
Dec-19	16,056	8,656	7,221
Jan-20	13,445	8,627	4,679
Feb-20	16,049	8,707	7,166
Mar-20	15,417	8,618	6,588
Apr-20	15,129	8,828	5,915
May-20	13,356	8,861	4,204
Jun-20	12,925	8,403	4,130
Jul-20	15,222	9,306	5,597
Aug-20	14,401	9,640	4,585
Sep-20	16,046	10,522	5,128
Oct-20	17,400	11,081	5,976
Nov-20	17,444	11,474	5,641
Dec-20	19,341	13,290	5,813
Jan-21	16,963	12,127	4,505
Feb-21	19,977	14,099	5,479
Mar-21	23,259	14,254	8,505
Apr-21	20,314	13,631	6,423
May-21	20,773	13,696	6,823
Jun-21	19,924	12,576	6,930
Jul-21	18,216	11,962	5,968
Aug-21	19,148	12,039	6,837
Sep-21	18,254	10,423	7,620
Oct-21	16,016	10,400	5,301
Nov-21	16,005	10,294	5,496
Dec-21	17,306	10,001	7,064
Jan-22	13,165	8,587	4,351
Feb-22	18,327	9,974	7,073
Mar-22	15,354	9,873	5,187
Apr-22	15,316	9,778	5,385
May-22	16,656	9,635	6,698
Jun-22	16,649	9,755	6,431
Jul-22	13,979	9,774	3,990
Aug-22	17,713	10,281	7,156
Sep-22	16,167	9,454	6,498
Oct-22	15,237	9,237	5,821
Nov-22	14,460	8,958	5,169
Dec-22	16,673	8,774	7,335
Jan-23	12,065	7,560	4,340

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted

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Media notes

"Private sector dwellings excluding houses" includes semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments.
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact media@abs.gov.au (8.30am - 5pm Mon-Fri AEDT).
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Private house approvals hit 10-year low

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