Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
March 2026
Released
4/05/2026
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Release date and time
04/05/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

The March 2026 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 10.5% to 17,300.
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 26.0% to 6,632 and private sector houses rose 0.9% to 10,194.
  • The value of total residential building fell 15.8% to $10.77b.
  • The value of total non-residential building fell 25.3% to $5.97b. 

Dwellings approved

March key figures
 Mar 26 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved17,300-10.59.0
 Private sector houses10,1940.912.0
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses6,632-26.03.4
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved17,6570.513.1
 Private sector houses10,1421.110.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses7,133-0.616.6
  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 10.5%, after rising 31.0% in February.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 0.5%, following a 1.0% February gain. 
 

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

Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals fell 26.0%, after rising 101.1% in February.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.9%, after a 2.0% February increase.  

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals gained 1.1%, following a 1.4% February rise. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 0.6%, after a rise of 0.2% in February.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed: Victoria (-16.9%), Western Australia (-15.5%), Queensland (-6.4%), and South Australia (-2.1%) fell in March, while approvals rose in New South Wales (3.2%) and Tasmania (2.6%).

Approvals for private sector houses were also mixed: New South Wales (9.5%) and Queensland (7.2%) rose, while Western Australia (-8.6%), South Australia (-6.2%), and Victoria (-2.5%) fell.

Dwellings approved, states and territories (a), seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,3519.54,4453.2
Victoria2,853-2.55,102-16.9
Queensland2,2587.23,910-6.4
South Australia816-6.21,278-2.1
Western Australia1,632-8.62,158-15.5
Tasmanianana1972.6
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia10,1940.917,300-10.5

a.    Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings varied across the states and territories. Victoria (1.5%), Queensland (0.9%), South Australia (0.6%), and Western Australia (0.4%) rose in March, while the Northern Territory (-11.5%), Australian Capital Territory (-3.4%), Tasmania (-1.9%), and New South Wales (-0.5%) fell.

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed. New South Wales (3.0%), Victoria (1.2%), and Queensland (1.0%) rose, while South Australia (-0.2%) and Western Australia (-0.2%) fell.
 

Dwellings approved, states and territories (a), trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,1873.04,282-0.5
Victoria2,8401.25,1781.5
Queensland2,2121.03,9750.9
South Australia846-0.21,2740.6
Western Australia1,762-0.22,3580.4
Tasmanianana209-1.9
Northern Territorynana46-11.5
Australian Capital Territorynana337-3.4
Australia10,1421.117,6570.5

a.    Trend estimates are not published for Tasmania, NT and ACT for private sector houses.

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 19.4% (to $16.74b), after a 15.5% February rise. The value of total residential building fell 15.8% (to $10.77b), comprised of a 17.7% fall in new residential work (to $9.43b) and a 0.8% rise in alterations and additions (to $1.34b).

The value of non-residential building fell 25.3% (to $5.97b), after falling 3.2% in February.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved fell 0.2% (to $17.46b), after a 0.4% February decrease. The value of total residential building rose 0.4% (to $10.23b), after a 0.4% February gain. New residential building value rose 0.3% (to $8.89b) and alterations and additions rose 1.3% (to $1.34b).

The value of non-residential building fell 1.2% (to $7.23b), after a 1.5% February decrease.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building9,433-17.78,8940.3
Alterations and additions to residential building1,3370.81,3371.3
Total residential building10,770-15.810,2310.4
Non-residential building5,967-25.37,226-1.2
Total building16,738-19.417,457-0.2

Data downloads

Dwellings approved

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Data files

Value of building approved

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Data files

Non-residential building approved

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Data files

Chain volume measures

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Data files

Demolitions

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Data files

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

    Download xlsx [53.75 KB]

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

    Download xlsx [59.34 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 February 2026. 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 Wales127
Victoria358
Queensland-326
South Australia114
Western Australia-457
Tasmania-2
Northern Territory-14
Australian Capital Territory--
Total12478

Article archive

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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 2 (SA2)
  • 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