Apartments again drew down approval numbers in December, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The latest figures show that the total number of new homes approved fell 9.5% in December (seasonally adjusted), after a 0.3% rise in November.
Approvals for the ever-volatile ‘dwellings excluding houses’ sector drove the December decline, falling 25.3%.
ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi noted that in 2023, there were 59,174 private other dwellings approved, compared to 73,041 in 2022.
“This reflects a 19% annual fall”, Rossi said.
“Approvals for less volatile, private sector houses, fell 0.5 per cent in December.”
Total dwelling approvals fell in Victoria (down 18.4%), South Australia (11.8%), and Tasmania (2.7%). Meanwhile, Queensland rose (up by 8.2%), as did Western Australia (7.9%) and New South Wales (2.0%).
Approvals for standalone houses were driven lower by South Australia (down by 5.3%), New South Wales (2.6%), and Queensland (0.4%), while rises were seen in Western Australia (up 2.2%) and Victoria (1.2%) in December.
The value of total residential building fell 3.7% in November, with a 3.8% decrease in new homes and a 2.8% fall in alterations and additions.
