MEDIA RELEASE
2 November 2016	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)	115/2016

The value of total building approved rose 2.1 per cent in September 2016, in trend terms, and has risen for 10 months, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The result was driven by a 6.0 per cent rise in the value of non-residential building, while residential building fell 0.1 per cent.

The number of dwellings approved fell 0.6 per cent in September, in trend terms, and has fallen for four months.

Dwelling approvals decreased in September in the Northern Territory (6.0 per cent), South Australia (4.3 per cent), Victoria (2.0 per cent), Queensland (1.6 per cent), Tasmania (1.1 per cent) and Western Australia (0.6 per cent) but increased in the Australian Capital Territory (15.9 per cent) and New South Wales (0.6 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.5 per cent in September. Private sector house approvals fell in South Australia (1.2 per cent), New South Wales (0.9 per cent), Victoria (0.6 per cent), Queensland (0.5 per cent) and Western Australia (0.3 per cent).

In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals decreased 8.7 per cent in September, driven by a fall in total other residential dwellings (17.5 per cent). Total house approvals rose 1.7 per cent.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:

• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070 (8.30am - 5pm Mon-Fri).
• Subscribe to our email notification service and get media releases or products sent to you on release.