Total dwellings approved fell slightly in March

Media Release

Released

8/05/2023

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, March 2023

The total number of dwellings approved decreased 0.1 per cent in March, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a 3.9 per cent rise in February, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said "The result was driven by a 2.8 per cent fall in approvals for private sector houses, following an 11.3 per cent February rise. Private sector house approvals remain 15.0 per cent lower than March 2022.”

"Private sector dwellings excluding house approvals increased 5.6 per cent in March, following a 9.7 per cent decrease in February."

"This is the sixth consecutive month where the trend result has fallen for total dwellings approved," Mr Rossi said.

Across Australia in seasonally adjusted terms, total dwelling approvals decreased in Tasmania (-42.1 per cent), South Australia (-19.1 per cent), and Queensland (-6.7 per cent). Western Australia (+27.2 per cent), New South Wales (+3.1 per cent), and Victoria (+1.7 per cent) rose in March.

Approvals for private sector houses fell in most states: New South Wales (-4.0 per cent), Queensland (-3.9 per cent), Victoria (-3.8 per cent), and South Australia (-0.1 per cent). Western Australia was the only state with a March increase (+8.7 per cent).

The value of total building approvals fell 5.9 per cent, following a 19.5 per cent rise in February. The value of total residential building approvals fell 6.5 per cent, comprised of a 6.4 per cent decrease in new residential building and a 7.4 per cent fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building approved decreased 5.1 per cent, following a 41.0 per cent rise in February.

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
Mar-08	12,488	8,833	3,468
Apr-08	13,692	9,086	4,298
May-08	13,100	8,744	3,988
Jun-08	13,471	8,750	4,238
Jul-08	13,172	8,309	4,425
Aug-08	12,390	8,119	3,914
Sep-08	11,708	7,677	3,677
Oct-08	11,523	7,574	3,689
Nov-08	10,325	7,187	2,813
Dec-08	10,201	6,994	2,558
Jan-09	9,419	7,206	2,016
Feb-09	10,712	7,403	3,074
Mar-09	10,825	7,602	2,906
Apr-09	11,447	7,902	3,084
May-09	10,850	8,233	1,990
Jun-09	12,010	8,767	2,518
Jul-09	13,219	8,912	3,572
Aug-09	12,800	9,406	2,670
Sep-09	14,062	9,513	3,900
Oct-09	13,631	9,927	2,942
Nov-09	14,891	9,892	3,487
Dec-09	15,317	9,982	3,828
Jan-10	14,972	9,984	3,201
Feb-10	15,418	9,985	3,429
Mar-10	17,044	9,951	4,810
Apr-10	15,875	9,482	4,746
May-10	14,946	9,296	4,346
Jun-10	14,651	9,111	4,757
Jul-10	15,391	8,895	5,452
Aug-10	15,040	8,684	5,314
Sep-10	13,871	8,487	4,646
Oct-10	15,314	8,566	6,077
Nov-10	14,096	8,388	5,097
Dec-10	15,096	8,465	5,916
Jan-11	13,131	8,339	4,459
Feb-11	12,880	8,295	4,244
Mar-11	14,208	8,194	5,546
Apr-11	13,839	8,172	5,413
May-11	12,760	8,010	4,461
Jun-11	12,825	8,002	4,454
Jul-11	13,092	7,645	4,922
Aug-11	14,895	7,767	6,710
Sep-11	12,299	7,770	4,282
Oct-11	11,355	7,277	3,878
Nov-11	11,847	7,614	4,021
Dec-11	11,728	7,690	3,901
Jan-12	11,218	7,801	3,204
Feb-12	11,796	7,355	4,285
Mar-12	11,741	7,511	4,050
Apr-12	10,848	6,834	3,913
May-12	14,215	7,301	6,782
Jun-12	14,878	7,272	7,389
Jul-12	11,748	7,668	3,828
Aug-12	13,412	7,699	5,580
Sep-12	15,221	7,926	7,126
Oct-12	14,271	7,826	5,978
Nov-12	13,878	7,720	5,912
Dec-12	13,877	7,762	5,905
Jan-13	12,746	7,813	4,744
Feb-13	13,678	7,775	5,248
Mar-13	13,300	7,958	5,105
Apr-13	14,975	8,155	6,512
May-13	14,427	8,372	5,564
Jun-13	13,772	8,264	5,121
Jul-13	15,267	8,529	6,402
Aug-13	14,890	8,413	6,287
Sep-13	18,351	8,673	9,404
Oct-13	17,641	8,725	8,655
Nov-13	17,266	9,243	7,729
Dec-13	16,967	9,070	7,640
Jan-14	17,774	10,201	7,267
Feb-14	16,732	9,750	6,766
Mar-14	15,991	9,376	6,358
Apr-14	16,472	9,753	6,363
May-14	16,801	9,783	6,791
Jun-14	16,607	9,660	6,616
Jul-14	17,105	9,772	7,092
Aug-14	18,569	9,686	8,628
Sep-14	16,402	9,547	6,622
Oct-14	18,189	9,860	8,140
Nov-14	20,124	9,844	10,061
Dec-14	20,330	9,729	10,155
Jan-15	19,889	9,941	9,622
Feb-15	19,518	9,715	9,457
Mar-15	20,788	9,629	10,838
Apr-15	19,058	9,594	9,147
May-15	20,892	9,545	11,057
Jun-15	19,383	9,917	9,123
Jul-15	19,843	9,738	9,203
Aug-15	19,352	10,077	9,117
Sep-15	20,395	9,817	10,306
Oct-15	21,578	9,740	11,601
Nov-15	18,654	9,654	8,920
Dec-15	20,249	10,273	9,810
Jan-16	18,861	9,848	8,722
Feb-16	19,703	9,830	9,518
Mar-16	20,695	10,232	10,257
Apr-16	20,729	10,000	10,526
May-16	20,311	10,026	9,976
Jun-16	18,683	9,664	8,819
Jul-16	21,551	9,591	11,703
Aug-16	21,998	9,699	11,905
Sep-16	19,134	9,782	9,180
Oct-16	16,580	9,555	6,717
Nov-16	18,383	9,638	8,497
Dec-16	18,331	9,396	8,794
Jan-17	17,097	9,217	7,684
Feb-17	18,838	9,434	9,169
Mar-17	16,517	9,291	7,002
Apr-17	18,175	9,465	8,494
May-17	17,043	9,813	7,069
Jun-17	18,676	9,957	8,505
Jul-17	19,384	10,207	8,710
Aug-17	19,443	10,244	9,020
Sep-17	19,515	10,105	9,153
Oct-17	19,718	10,139	9,255
Nov-17	23,007	10,066	12,782
Dec-17	17,954	10,185	7,614
Jan-18	19,636	9,917	9,449
Feb-18	19,028	10,263	8,458
Mar-18	19,665	10,459	9,050
Apr-18	18,320	10,562	7,558
May-18	18,095	9,949	7,987
Jun-18	19,541	10,239	8,974
Jul-18	18,638	10,136	8,237
Aug-18	16,415	9,966	6,302
Sep-18	16,662	9,602	6,731
Oct-18	17,310	10,051	7,082
Nov-18	14,961	9,364	5,470
Dec-18	14,276	9,072	5,078
Jan-19	14,700	9,370	5,136
Feb-19	16,448	8,914	7,429
Mar-19	15,114	8,523	6,373
Apr-19	14,411	8,562	5,712
May-19	14,486	8,799	5,467
Jun-19	14,971	8,872	5,717
Jul-19	13,647	8,637	4,710
Aug-19	13,782	8,541	5,121
Sep-19	14,479	8,728	5,597
Oct-19	14,510	8,229	6,071
Nov-19	14,696	8,502	6,019
Dec-19	16,036	8,660	7,199
Jan-20	13,457	8,657	4,661
Feb-20	16,174	8,691	7,307
Mar-20	15,447	8,571	6,664
Apr-20	15,091	8,817	5,889
May-20	13,314	8,829	4,192
Jun-20	12,884	8,386	4,106
Jul-20	15,180	9,287	5,573
Aug-20	14,390	9,655	4,559
Sep-20	16,064	10,567	5,101
Oct-20	17,432	11,161	5,925
Nov-20	17,505	11,514	5,662
Dec-20	19,387	13,356	5,797
Jan-21	16,999	12,178	4,488
Feb-21	20,030	13,964	5,666
Mar-21	23,313	14,205	8,606
Apr-21	20,176	13,537	6,379
May-21	20,710	13,685	6,771
Jun-21	19,841	12,556	6,867
Jul-21	18,208	11,964	5,958
Aug-21	19,138	12,050	6,819
Sep-21	18,226	10,461	7,554
Oct-21	16,024	10,459	5,249
Nov-21	16,166	10,422	5,528
Dec-21	17,278	10,014	7,028
Jan-22	13,257	8,675	4,354
Feb-22	18,516	9,813	7,422
Mar-22	15,348	9,781	5,272
Apr-22	15,273	9,730	5,389
May-22	16,586	9,584	6,678
Jun-22	16,576	9,720	6,393
Jul-22	13,943	9,724	4,003
Aug-22	17,810	10,378	7,156
Sep-22	16,268	9,470	6,582
Oct-22	15,285	9,341	5,764
Nov-22	14,788	9,096	5,359
Dec-22	16,746	8,863	7,325
Jan-23	12,227	7,687	4,373
Feb-23	12,705	8,554	3,947
Mar-23	12,686	8,312	4,168

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 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).
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