Building Activity, Australia

Latest release

Provides estimates of value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline

Reference period
December 2024
Released
16/04/2025
  • Next Release 16/07/2025
    Building Activity, Australia, March 2025
  • Next Release 15/10/2025
    Building Activity, Australia, June 2025
  • Next Release 21/01/2026
    Building Activity, Australia, September 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms:

  • The total number of dwelling units commenced fell 4.4% to 41,911 dwellings.
  • New private sector house commencements fell 6.1% to 26,136 dwellings.
  • New private sector other residential commencements fell 5.6% to 14,196 dwellings.
  • The value of total building work done fell 0.7% to $38.4b.

This release includes updated data on the average cost and average floor area for new residential dwellings in the Data downloads section. For more information, please refer to the Article archive section. 

Number of dwellings commenced

Number of dwellings commenced, seasonally adjusted
 Dec qtr 24
no.
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses26,136-6.18.7
New private sector other residential14,196-5.6-3.8
Total sector total dwellings41,911-4.45.3
Number of dwellings commenced, trend
 Dec qtr 24
no.
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses26,9900.213.0
New private sector other residential14,439-0.70.2
Total sector total dwellings42,8070.69.3

The total number of dwelling units commenced in Australia fell 4.4% to 41,911 dwellings in the December quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. Private sector new houses drove the decrease in dwelling commencements, falling 6.1% to 26,136 dwellings and follows a rise of 6.0% in the September quarter. Private sector other residential commencements fell 5.6% to 14,196 dwellings and follows a rise of 6.3% in the September quarter.

 

 

There were 213,834 total sector dwellings under construction in the December quarter, of which 85,169 were new houses.

Number of dwellings completed

Number of dwellings completed, seasonally adjusted
 Dec qtr 24
no.
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses27,757-2.2-9.6
New private sector other residential16,6759.423.6
Total sector total dwellings45,1670.4-1.0
Number of dwellings completed, trend
 Dec qtr 24
no.
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses27,608-2.4-8.1
New private sector other residential16,1531.514.0
Total sector total dwellings44,761-1.0-1.3

In seasonally adjusted terms, 45,167 dwellings were completed in the December quarter. Private new houses accounted for 27,757 of the dwellings completed, falling 2.2% from September. Private new other residential completions rose 9.4% from September to 16,675 dwellings. 

In original terms, 49,121 dwellings were completed in the December quarter, a fall of 0.5% from December 2023.

An article Home building through the pandemic was released on 19 November 2024, providing insights into home building conditions from 2019-2024.

Value of work done

Value of work done, seasonally adjusted chain volume measures (a)
 Dec qtr 24
$m
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New residential building20,327.00.65.7
Alterations and additions to residential building3,354.31.54.3
Non-residential building14,684.4-2.9-8.8
Total value of work done38,365.6-0.7-0.5
Value of work done, trend chain volume measures (a)
 Dec qtr 24
$m
Sep qtr 24 to Dec qtr 24
% change
Dec qtr 23 to Dec qtr 24
% change
New residential building20,381.01.64.6
Alterations and additions to residential building3,341.90.81.5
Non-residential building14,830.7-1.4-4.5
Total value of work done38,542.10.30.6

(a) Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2022-2023

The value of total building work done fell 0.7% to $38.4b in the December quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The fall was driven by non-residential building, which fell 2.9% to $14.7b and follows a decrease of 1.9% in the September quarter. Work done on new residential building rose 0.6% to $20.3b and is 5.7% higher for the year. Work done on alterations and additions to residential buildings rose 1.5% to $3.4b. 

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

File contents

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

Building Activity by state - value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline.

About this issue

This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia. The data in this publication are based on a response rate of approximately 85% of the value of building work done during the quarter, which is lower than the long term response rate average. The data are subject to revision when returns from the following quarter are processed. Final data for the December 2024 quarter will be released in the next release of this publication, Building Activity, Australia on 16 July 2025.

Several time series spreadsheets contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations from the September quarter 2012 onwards. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.

Enquiries

For enquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Changes this release

Revisions

Article archive

The following data cubes provide additional insights into Building Activity and are updated annually. Refer to the Data Downloads section of the relevant Building Activity release.

June quarter:

  • Building Activity Average Dwelling Commencement Times
  • Building Activity Average Dwelling Completion times
  • Building Activity Abandonment Rates for New Dwellings

December quarter:

  • Building Activity Average Cost
  • Building Activity Average Floor Area

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8752.0.

Methodology

Scope

Building activity in Australia on approved work greater than $10,000, including: 

  • new building construction
  • alterations and additions to existing buildings
  • non-structural renovation and refurbishment
  • installation of integral building fixtures

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • select series at Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA).

Source

Building Activity Survey.

The survey sample is selected from approved building jobs notified to the ABS Building Approvals, Australia collection.

Collection method

Survey responses from builders and other individuals and organisations engaged in building activity, compiled from:

  • online forms
  • paper forms
  • telephone calls
  • approval information

Concepts, sources and methods

Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.

History of changes

  • Trend series were reinstated in the September 2022 release.
  • Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated in the September 2022 release.
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