Building Approvals, Australia

Latest release

Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

Cite
Print
Reference period
May 2025
Released
2/07/2025
  • Next Release 31/07/2025
    Building Approvals, Australia, June 2025
  • Next Release 7/08/2025
    Building Approvals, Australia, June 2025
  • Next Release 1/09/2025
    Building Approvals, Australia, July 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

The May 2025 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved rose 3.2% to 15,212.
  • Private sector houses rose 0.5% to 9,454 and private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 11.3%, to 5,571.
  • The value of total residential building rose 3.6%, to $9.28b.
  • The value of total non-residential building fell 22.4%, to $6.16b.

Dwellings approved

May key figures
 May 25 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved15,2123.26.5
 Private sector houses9,4540.53.4
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,57111.311.9
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved15,119-0.29.8
 Private sector houses9,3150.72.4
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,581-1.225.1
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved rose 3.2%, after falling 4.1% in April. 

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.2%, after falling 0.4% in April.

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

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.5%, after rising 5.9% in April.  Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals rose 11.3%, after falling 19.0% in April. 

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.7%, following a 0.7% rise last month. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.2%, following a 1.7% fall in April.

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for total dwellings were varied across the states. Victoria (14.0%) and New South Wales (11.0%) rose. Falls were recorded in Tasmania (-8.8%), Western Australia (-7.5%), Queensland (-6.7%) and South Australia (-6.2%).

Approvals for private sector houses also were mixed, with rises in Victoria (9.5%), South Australia (1.6%), and Queensland (0.7%). Meanwhile, Western Australia (-7.6%) and New South Wales (-5.4%) fell. 

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 Wales1,874-5.44,16711.0
Victoria2,8219.54,56914.0
Queensland2,1380.73,018-6.7
South Australia8871.61,265-6.2
Western Australia1,476-7.61,893-7.5
Tasmanianana166-8.8
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,4540.515,2123.2

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings fell in Australian Capital Territory (-8.0%), Northern Territory (-3.8%), Victoria (-1.4%), Tasmania (-1.2%), and Queensland (-0.1%). New South Wales (1.8%), Western Australia (0.3%), and South Australia (0.2%) rose in May.

Approvals for private sector houses rose in all states: Queensland (1.5%), New South Wales (1.0%), Victoria (0.5%), South Australia (0.5%) and Western Australia (0.3%), in trend terms.

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 Wales1,9141.03,9331.8
Victoria2,6620.54,443-1.4
Queensland2,0571.53,046-0.1
South Australia8800.51,3210.2
Western Australia1,5350.31,8900.3
Tasmanianana168-1.2
Northern Territorynana51-3.8
Australian Capital Territorynana254-8.0
Australia9,3150.715,119-0.2

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 8.6% to $15.45b, after a 6.1% rise in April. The value of total residential building rose 3.6% (to $9.28b), comprised of a 3.7% rise in new residential work (to $8.07b) and a 3.2% rise in residential alterations and additions (to $1.22b).

The value of non-residential building fell 22.4% (to $6.16b), after rising 14.7% in April.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.6% to $15.95b, this follows a 1.1% rise in April. The value of total residential building ($9.23b) was flat, after rising 0.1% last month. New residential work fell 0.1% (to $8.03b) and alterations and additions rose 0.4% (to $1.20b).

The value of non-residential building rose 1.5% (to $6.72b), following a 2.6% rise in April.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building8,0673.78,034-0.1
Alterations and additions to residential building1,2173.21,1990.4
Total residential building9,2843.69,2320.0
Non-residential building6,165-22.46,7181.5
Total building15,448-8.615,9510.6

Data downloads

Download all (2.83 MB)

Dwellings approved

Data files
Download all (2.49 MB)

Value of building approved

Data files
Download all (5.19 MB)

Non-residential building approved

Data files
Download all (481.21 KB)

Chain volume measures

Data files
Download all (103.61 KB)

Demolitions

Data files

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

    Download xlsx [55.07 KB]

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

    Download xlsx [60.41 KB]

Small area datacubes

Data items

Building Approvals: Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Data files
Download xlsx [44.84 KB]
Download all (245.21 KB)

NSW

Data files
Download all (211.69 KB)

Vic.

Data files
Download all (213.97 KB)

Qld

Data files
Download all (140.96 KB)

SA

Data files
Download all (166.67 KB)

WA

Data files
Download all (118.27 KB)

Tas.

Data files
Download all (108.81 KB)

NT

Data files
Download all (114.61 KB)

ACT

Data files

Validation table

Building Approvals: Data cube validation table

Data files
Download xlsx [43.82 KB]

Small area approvals (.csv)

Statistical Area Level 2

Data files

Local Government Area

Data files

Demolition approvals (.csv)

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 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

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2016 - June 2021

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2021 onwards

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2023) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2023/24

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2024) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2024/25

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2023 to April 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
  2023-242024-25
New South Wales201-42
Victoria0-99
Queensland2-102
South Australia-166
Western Australia-435
Tasmania-11
Northern Territory08
Australian Capital Territory00
Total197-133

Post release changes

09/07/2025 - As advertised in the ABS future releases calendar, this additional information release contains all Building Approvals small area data components. This is comprised of the small area excel data cubes, csv files and additional Data Explorer links for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years. 

Article archive

Previous feature articles

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.

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

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