This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE number of dwelling approvals rose by 9.3% in October, after falling for six consecutive months, according to the ABS.
The sector was bolstered by strong approvals in New South Wales (14.0%), Victoria (4.6%), South Australia (6.1%) and Western Australia (2.3%).
Those increases offset fall in Queensland (-0.7%).
Private sector houses approved rose 1.5% with rises in New South Wales (3.5%), Victoria (3.1%) and Western Australia (2.4%), while Queensland (-8.1%) and South Australia (-2.1%) fell.
The value of total building approved rose 4.1% in October in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of total residential building rose by 8.2% while non-residential building fell by -3.8%.
The Urban Taskforce’s chief executive Aaron Gadiel said the private sector numbers are encouraging, although this is not yet the sustained recovery that the industry has been hoping for.
“The 23.6% surge in private sector higher density home approvals is very welcome, even if this is partly a reversal of September’s 14.8% fall.
“Private sector detached housing numbers are still low – with just a 1.5% increase in October. The improvements were concentrated in NSW and Western Australia – with an 11% and 7.9% jump in private sector home approvals respectively. These two states are coming off a very low base,” he added.
“Victoria’s increase was more modest – 3.9%. Records continue to be broken by Victoria – it enjoyed its best October ever,” Gadiel concluded.
Australian Property Journal
