Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
December 2025
Released
3/02/2026
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Release date and time
03/02/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

The December 2025 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 14.9% to 15,542
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 29.8% to 5,855 and private sector houses rose 0.4% to 9,487.
  • The value of total residential building fell 16.0% to $9.49b.
  • The value of total non-residential building fell 6.4% to $6.83b.

Dwellings approved

December key figures
 Dec 25 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved15,542-14.90.4
 Private sector houses9,4870.45.7
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,855-29.8-6.1
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved16,489-0.26.9
 Private sector houses9,4740.43.7
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses6,719-0.814.3
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved fell 14.9%, after rising 13.1% in November.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.2%, after a 0.3% November increase. 

  1. Trend break added to 'Private sector houses' trend series for February 2021

Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals fell 29.8%, after rising 29.6% in November.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals gained 0.4%, after a 0.8% November rise.  

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.4%, following a 0.4% November increase. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 0.8%, after a 0.4% rise in November.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were down across most states: Victoria (-32.2%), Queensland (-16.3%), New South Wales (-14.3%), Western Australia (-1.9%) and South Australia (-0.8%). Tasmania was the only state to record a rise (11.3%).

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed, with rises recorded in South Australia (13.1%), Victoria (2.8%) and Western Australia (0.4%). Meanwhile, New South Wales (-5.5%) and Queensland (-2.8%), fell in December.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,859-5.54,133-14.3
Victoria2,6972.83,514-32.2
Queensland2,074-2.83,709-16.3
South Australia89513.11,265-0.8
Western Australia1,6520.42,057-1.9
Tasmanianana21611.3
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,4870.415,542-14.9

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings were varied across the states and territories. Northern Territory (5.4%), Western Australia (2.0%), Queensland (1.6%), and South Australia (1.1%), rose in December. Falls were recorded in Victoria (-2.4%), the Australian Capital Territory (-2.2%), New South Wales (-1.0%) and Tasmania (-0.5%).

Approvals for private sector houses rose in South Australia (1.7%), Western Australia (1.5%), Queensland (0.9%), and New South Wales (0.3%). Meanwhile, Victoria fell (-0.9%) in December.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,9120.34,187-1.0
Victoria2,643-0.94,398-2.4
Queensland2,0930.93,9061.6
South Australia8491.71,2541.1
Western Australia1,6691.52,0542.0
Tasmanianana214-0.5
Northern Territorynana785.4
Australian Capital Territorynana399-2.2
Australia9,4740.416,489-0.2

Value of building approved

  1. Trend break added to 'Total residential' trend series for September 2020 and February 2021.

Value of building approved, seasonally adjusted

The value of total building work approved fell 12.3% (to $16.32b), after a 12.9% November rise. The value of total residential building fell 16.0% (to $9.49b), comprised of a 17.8% fall in new residential value (to $8.30b) and a 1.4% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.20b).

The value of approved non-residential building fell 6.4% (to $6.83b), after a 1.8% November fall. 

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved was flat ($17.14b), after a 0.6% rise in November. The value of total residential building rose 0.6% (to $10.07b) after a 1.0% rise in November. New residential building rose 0.6% (to $8.87b) and alterations and additions rose 0.3% (to $1.20b).

The value of non-residential building fell 0.8% (to $7.08b), following a 0.2% rise in November.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building8,298-17.88,8680.6
Alterations and additions to residential building1,196-1.41,1970.3
Total residential building9,494-16.010,0660.6
Non-residential building6,828-6.47,079-0.8
Total building16,322-12.317,1450.0

Data downloads

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Dwellings approved

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Value of building approved

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Non-residential building approved

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Chain volume measures

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Demolitions

Data files

  • Table 87. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, original, states and territories

    Download xlsx [53.62 KB]

  • Table 88. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, by Greater Capital City Statistical Area - original

    Download xlsx [59.15 KB]

Data Explorer datasets

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

Help for: Data Explorer Datasets

Building Approvals by Greater Capital Cities Statistical Area (GCCSA) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2001 onwards

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2024 to November 2025. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found here: "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".

Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:

Dwellings revised
  2024-252025-26
New South Wales138125
Victoria24-64
Queensland1064
South Australia-3-
Western Australia527
Tasmania-1
Northern Territory128
Australian Capital Territory-1-
Total174181

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8731.0.

Methodology

Scope

Approvals included:

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

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
  • Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
  • Local Government Areas.

Source

Administrative data collection from local government or other approving authorities.

Collection method

Statistics of building work approved are compiled from:

  • local government authorities and other principal certifying authorities
  • contracts authorised by government authorities
  • media reports and the Building Activity Survey.

Concepts, sources and methods

A building approval is the official permit that allows construction to begin.

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

History of changes

Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated from the May 2022 release.

View full methodology

Media releases