Building work on new homes barely moved in the March quarter 2024, pulled down by a drop in new apartments, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The latest figures show that the total number of dwellings commenced rose 0.5% to 39,715 in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms.
New houses drove the increase with a rise of 4.8% to 25,072 dwellings, up from a low base meaning that work in this sector has fallen 6.7% since March 2023.
Work started on new multi-residential buildings fell 3.1% to 14,071 homes, following a rise of 3.3% in the December quarter. Work started in this sector is now down 21.5% through the year.
Altogether, 226,307 homes were under construction in the March quarter, of which 90,369 were new houses.
In trend terms, 46,864 dwellings were completed in the March quarter. Houses accounted for 30,992 homes, up 3.7% from December making an increase of 14.6% since March 2023. Multi-unit completions rose 5.6% from December to 14,844 dwellings.
The value of work done on new home building fell 0.8% to $16.9b and is 1.2% lower for the year. Work done on alterations and additions to residential buildings fell 2.6% to $2.7bn.
