Dwelling approvals continue to fall in April

Media Release

Released

30/05/2023

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, April 2023

The total number of dwellings approved fell 8.1 per cent in April, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a 1.0 per cent decrease in March, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "Total dwellings approved fell to the lowest level since April 2012. The overall decline was driven by a fall in approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses, which fell 16.5 per cent, to the lowest level since January 2012.

"Private sector house approvals also continued to decline, falling 3.8 per cent in April, following a 3.7 per cent decrease in March".

Across Australia, total dwelling approvals were mixed, with falls in Queensland (-22.8 per cent), Victoria (-18.6 per cent), and Western Australia (-5.8 per cent). Meanwhile, rises were recorded in South Australia (+19.8 per cent), New South Wales (+12.5 per cent), and Tasmania (+3.5 per cent).

Approvals for private sector houses fell in Victoria (-9.3 per cent), Queensland (-6.0 per cent), and New South Wales (-1.7 per cent). South Australia (+10.8 per cent) and Western Australia (+0.1 per cent) rose in April.

The value of total building approvals rose 4.7 per cent, following a 5.7 per cent fall in March. The value of total residential building approvals fell 2.5 per cent, comprised of a 2.7 per cent decrease in new residential building and a 1.2 per cent fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building approvals increased 13.5 per cent, following a 5.1 per cent fall in March.

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
Apr-08	13,710	9,101	4,300
May-08	13,099	8,742	3,988
Jun-08	13,471	8,750	4,238
Jul-08	13,173	8,310	4,426
Aug-08	12,389	8,117	3,914
Sep-08	11,707	7,675	3,678
Oct-08	11,524	7,576	3,689
Nov-08	10,326	7,188	2,814
Dec-08	10,200	6,994	2,557
Jan-09	9,419	7,206	2,015
Feb-09	10,712	7,404	3,074
Mar-09	10,819	7,597	2,906
Apr-09	11,408	7,862	3,085
May-09	10,847	8,229	1,990
Jun-09	12,007	8,764	2,518
Jul-09	13,218	8,911	3,572
Aug-09	12,804	9,409	2,670
Sep-09	14,062	9,512	3,901
Oct-09	13,632	9,928	2,942
Nov-09	14,892	9,894	3,488
Dec-09	15,317	9,983	3,827
Jan-10	14,966	9,980	3,199
Feb-10	15,418	9,985	3,429
Mar-10	17,042	9,949	4,811
Apr-10	15,889	9,495	4,746
May-10	14,949	9,299	4,346
Jun-10	14,651	9,109	4,758
Jul-10	15,389	8,893	5,452
Aug-10	15,038	8,682	5,315
Sep-10	13,878	8,493	4,648
Oct-10	15,310	8,563	6,075
Nov-10	14,095	8,386	5,097
Dec-10	15,094	8,464	5,915
Jan-11	13,131	8,341	4,456
Feb-11	12,880	8,295	4,244
Mar-11	14,213	8,197	5,547
Apr-11	13,849	8,182	5,413
May-11	12,757	8,008	4,460
Jun-11	12,833	8,007	4,456
Jul-11	13,085	7,640	4,920
Aug-11	14,901	7,768	6,716
Sep-11	12,296	7,768	4,282
Oct-11	11,358	7,280	3,877
Nov-11	11,849	7,615	4,022
Dec-11	11,721	7,687	3,897
Jan-12	11,213	7,797	3,202
Feb-12	11,802	7,358	4,288
Mar-12	11,742	7,513	4,048
Apr-12	10,860	6,844	3,915
May-12	14,221	7,304	6,786
Jun-12	14,870	7,268	7,384
Jul-12	11,743	7,664	3,827
Aug-12	13,414	7,699	5,582
Sep-12	15,226	7,929	7,128
Oct-12	14,275	7,826	5,983
Nov-12	13,874	7,719	5,909
Dec-12	13,874	7,761	5,902
Jan-13	12,748	7,815	4,744
Feb-13	13,678	7,776	5,247
Mar-13	13,296	7,959	5,100
Apr-13	14,985	8,162	6,516
May-13	14,429	8,375	5,564
Jun-13	13,771	8,266	5,119
Jul-13	15,270	8,529	6,405
Aug-13	14,887	8,411	6,286
Sep-13	18,358	8,674	9,409
Oct-13	17,649	8,727	8,660
Nov-13	17,259	9,241	7,724
Dec-13	16,952	9,061	7,634
Jan-14	17,773	10,201	7,265
Feb-14	16,728	9,751	6,761
Mar-14	15,995	9,382	6,355
Apr-14	16,489	9,765	6,368
May-14	16,800	9,786	6,787
Jun-14	16,604	9,659	6,614
Jul-14	17,113	9,778	7,094
Aug-14	18,558	9,677	8,627
Sep-14	16,408	9,546	6,629
Oct-14	18,189	9,861	8,138
Nov-14	20,124	9,847	10,058
Dec-14	20,322	9,722	10,154
Jan-15	19,885	9,943	9,617
Feb-15	19,508	9,716	9,446
Mar-15	20,784	9,630	10,833
Apr-15	19,044	9,564	9,162
May-15	20,891	9,550	11,050
Jun-15	19,377	9,910	9,124
Jul-15	19,842	9,739	9,200
Aug-15	19,347	10,069	9,121
Sep-15	20,404	9,821	10,311
Oct-15	21,575	9,744	11,595
Nov-15	18,657	9,649	8,929
Dec-15	20,248	10,279	9,803
Jan-16	18,858	9,842	8,725
Feb-16	19,678	9,819	9,505
Mar-16	20,697	10,246	10,246
Apr-16	20,747	9,997	10,548
May-16	20,327	10,045	9,974
Jun-16	18,690	9,673	8,817
Jul-16	21,534	9,583	11,694
Aug-16	21,991	9,683	11,913
Sep-16	19,152	9,783	9,196
Oct-16	16,581	9,559	6,713
Nov-16	18,386	9,639	8,499
Dec-16	18,324	9,396	8,787
Jan-17	17,106	9,220	7,690
Feb-17	18,814	9,433	9,145
Mar-17	16,494	9,276	6,995
Apr-17	18,210	9,480	8,515
May-17	17,062	9,835	7,066
Jun-17	18,670	9,954	8,502
Jul-17	19,367	10,198	8,702
Aug-17	19,458	10,256	9,023
Sep-17	19,538	10,089	9,194
Oct-17	19,740	10,156	9,259
Nov-17	23,016	10,075	12,781
Dec-17	17,932	10,170	7,608
Jan-18	19,648	9,911	9,466
Feb-18	18,991	10,260	8,423
Mar-18	19,631	10,439	9,036
Apr-18	18,316	10,561	7,556
May-18	18,155	10,010	7,986
Jun-18	19,519	10,219	8,972
Jul-18	18,646	10,141	8,242
Aug-18	16,408	9,947	6,315
Sep-18	16,690	9,611	6,751
Oct-18	17,327	10,066	7,085
Nov-18	14,961	9,357	5,477
Dec-18	14,249	9,054	5,069
Jan-19	14,735	9,396	5,145
Feb-19	16,393	8,908	7,380
Mar-19	15,061	8,492	6,351
Apr-19	14,413	8,574	5,702
May-19	14,529	8,826	5,483
Jun-19	14,966	8,880	5,704
Jul-19	13,650	8,634	4,717
Aug-19	13,777	8,531	5,127
Sep-19	14,500	8,721	5,624
Oct-19	14,549	8,271	6,067
Nov-19	14,684	8,478	6,030
Dec-19	16,026	8,648	7,202
Jan-20	13,463	8,647	4,677
Feb-20	16,103	8,688	7,239
Mar-20	15,427	8,538	6,677
Apr-20	15,049	8,814	5,851
May-20	13,355	8,851	4,212
Jun-20	12,906	8,392	4,121
Jul-20	15,201	9,291	5,589
Aug-20	14,368	9,635	4,557
Sep-20	16,117	10,584	5,135
Oct-20	17,454	11,182	5,926
Nov-20	17,492	11,491	5,673
Dec-20	19,361	13,351	5,775
Jan-21	16,981	12,146	4,501
Feb-21	19,956	13,971	5,585
Mar-21	23,216	14,107	8,606
Apr-21	20,133	13,536	6,340
May-21	20,757	13,724	6,779
Jun-21	19,884	12,584	6,883
Jul-21	18,231	11,978	5,967
Aug-21	19,183	12,050	6,863
Sep-21	18,290	10,490	7,588
Oct-21	16,031	10,460	5,255
Nov-21	16,151	10,404	5,531
Dec-21	17,236	9,972	7,027
Jan-22	13,232	8,650	4,353
Feb-22	18,471	9,824	7,367
Mar-22	15,306	9,722	5,288
Apr-22	15,281	9,759	5,370
May-22	16,703	9,626	6,753
Jun-22	16,673	9,748	6,463
Jul-22	13,996	9,763	4,016
Aug-22	17,842	10,363	7,205
Sep-22	16,367	9,493	6,661
Oct-22	15,368	9,367	5,821
Nov-22	14,788	9,097	5,358
Dec-22	16,709	8,846	7,305
Jan-23	12,284	7,687	4,430
Feb-23	12,738	8,568	3,959
Mar-23	12,613	8,249	4,155
Apr-23	11,594	7,939	3,469

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 AEST).
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Dwelling approvals continue to fall in April

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