Work started on building new homes fell in the March quarter, but ongoing work remains strong, according to new data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The latest figures show that the total number of home starts in Australia fell 6.5% to 49,017 in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms.
The fall was driven by work started on standalone houses, which fell 11.6% to 29,672 following a fall of 6.2% in the December quarter. Work started on multi-unit homes also fell, to a lesser degree, by 1.1% after dropping 16.2% previously.
Ongoing work continues in strength, with the total number of dwellings under construction reaching a record high of 240,065 in March, an additional 2.9% increase from the record high in December of 233,274 dwellings.
This increase was driven by new houses, which have increased to record highs since March 2021, with 101,240 under construction in March 2022.
The value of new residential building work done rose 0.3% to $15.7b in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. New ‘other residential’ building rose 5.0% to $5.8b, while work done on new houses fell 2.3% to $9.9b.
