• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Sep qtr 04	Jun qtr 04 to Sep qtr 04	Sep qtr 03 to Sep qtr 04
	$m	% change	% change
TREND ESTIMATES(a)
Value of work done	12,702.1	-0.4	6.0
New residential building	7,370.7	0.3	7.5
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,358.3	0.7	6.5
Non-residential building	3,977.5	-2.0	3.2
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES(a)
Value of work done	12,583.2	-1.7	6.3
New residential building	7,355.4	0.7	8.4
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,362.3	0.8	5.6
Non-residential building	3,865.4	-6.8	2.8
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2002-03.

Value of work done, Volume terms

Value of work done, Volume terms - Trend estimates

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


VALUE OF WORK DONE, VOLUME TERMS

TREND ESTIMATES

• The trend estimate of the value of total building work done fell 0.4% in the September quarter 2004, following four quarters of growth.
• New residential building work rose 0.3% in the latest quarter. New houses were up 0.1% and new other residential buildings were up 0.8%, rising for the fourteenth consecutive quarter. Alterations and additions rose 0.7%, the fifteenth consecutive quarterly increase. Non-residential work done fell 2.0%.

• In seasonally adjusted terms, total building work done fell 1.7% in the September quarter, to $12,583.2m.
• New residential work done rose 0.7%, to $7,355.4m. New houses fell 0.9%, to $4,847.0m, while new other residential building rose 4.1%, to $2,508.4m. Alterations and additions rose 0.8% to a record level of $1,362.3m. Non-residential work done fell 6.8%, to $3,865.4m.

• In original terms, total building work done rose 2.5% in the September quarter to a record level of $13,055.6m. New houses rose 3.5%, to $5,012.5m, a level exceeded only by the June quarter 2000. New other residential building rose 5.3% with alterations and additions up 3.0%. Non-residential work fell 0.5%, to $4,074.8m.

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

From this quarter onwards, contributions to published estimates from smaller house renovations are no longer directly collected as part of the Building Activity Survey. They will be estimated from their approval value. This change affects only in scope building jobs involving alterations and additions to houses with an approval value of less than $40,000.

SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS THIS ISSUE

Compared with the estimates in original terms published in the previous issue of this publication:

• the total number of dwellings commenced during the June quarter 2004 has been revised downwards by 519 (-1.2%). This was mainly the result of a downward revision of 269 (-2.5%) in Victoria.
• the total value of building work commenced during the June quarter has been revised downwards by $90.9m (-0.7%).
• the total value of building work done during the June quarter has been revised downwards by $60.9m (0.4%).

VALUE OF WORK COMMENCED VOLUME TERMS


TREND AND SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES

	Sep qtr 04	Jun qtr 04 to Sep qtr 04	Sep qtr 03 to Sep qtr 04
	$m	% change	% change
TREND(a)
Value of work commenced	12,168.8	-1.6	1.0
New residential building	7,067.0	-2.9	1.5
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,272.9	-0.2	1.3
Non-residential building	3,823.0	0.2	-0.3
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED(a)
Value of work commenced	12,126.1	-1.9	1.2
New residential building	6,878.3	-7.8	0.9
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,267.4	-2.5	-0.5
Non-residential building	3,980.5	10.5	2.4
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2002-03.

TREND

• The trend estimate of the total value of building work commenced fell 1.6% from the June quarter 2004 estimate.
• The value of new residential building commenced is now showing a fall for the past two quarters, falling 2.9% in the September quarter 2004. New house commencements are now showing a fall for the past two quarters, falling 2.7% in the September quarter 2004. New other residential building fell 3.1%. Alterations and additions to residential building and non-residential building commencements were both relatively flat.

VALUE OF WORK COMMENCED IN VOLUME TERMS, Trend

• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of building work commenced fell 1.9% in the September quarter 2004, to $12,126.1m.
• Commencements of new residential buildings fell 7.8%, to $6,878.3m. New house commencements fell 5.5% to $4,744.8m, while new other residential building fell 12.7% to $2,133.4m. Alterations and additions rose 2.5% to $1,267.4m.
• Non-residential work commenced rose 10.5% to $3,980.5m.

• In the September quarter 2004, the seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done fell in a majority of states with Western Australia (-2.9%) recording the largest decrease. These decreases offset rises in South Australia (+6.2%) and the Northern Territory (+5.6%).
• In original terms, all states and territories other than Victoria (-0.3%), Tasmania (-3.2%) and the Australian Capital Territory (-4.0%) recorded an increase in total building work done. The largest increases in original terms were in South Australia (+8.8%), Western Australia (+7.5%) and Queensland (+6.1%).

		NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
ORIGINAL(a)
Value of work done
	New residential building ($m)	2,252.6	2,116.1	1,847.4	357.7	737.9	97.3	54.4	115.7	7,579.1
	Alterations and additions to residential building ($m)	543.8	422.7	215.2	84.1	79.1	21.6	10.0	25.3	1,401.7
	Non-residential building ($m)	1,182.6	1,294.4	753.4	329.9	352.7	53.1	34.6	74.1	4,074.8
	Total building ($m)	3,979.0	3,833.1	2,816.0	771.7	1,169.7	172.0	98.9	215.0	13,055.6
Percentage change
	New residential building (%)	3.2	2.5	10.3	-2.6	2.8	-3.0	25.4	-10.7	4.1
	Alterations and additions to residential building (%)	10.3	-6.2	3.9	6.1	6.9	-11.2	16.9	3.1	3.0
	Non-residential building (%)	-6.7	-2.8	-2.2	25.5	19.2	-0.1	-22.7	5.9	-0.5
	Total building (%)	0.9	-0.3	6.1	8.8	7.5	-3.2	2.4	-4.0	2.5
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED(a)
Value of work done
	New residential building ($m)	2,239.6	2,027.3	1,748.3	353.1	727.0	98.8	na	114.7	7,355.4
	Alterations and additions to residential building ($m)	532.8	420.3	208.2	81.0	79.7	21.2	na	24.1	1,362.3
	Non-residential building ($m)	1,177.7	1,258.0	719.2	325.2	303.0	52.2	na	75.7	3,865.4
	Total building ($m)	3,950.1	3,705.6	2,675.6	759.3	1,109.8	172.3	97.1	214.5	12,583.2
Percentage change
	New residential building (%)	1.6	-0.5	2.1	-4.2	-1.0	-1.8	na	-3.4	0.7
	Alterations and additions to residential building (%)	5.5	-2.1	-0.5	-0.7	11.2	-8.7	na	-0.8	0.8
	Non-residential building (%)	-6.3	-3.8	-5.5	22.9	-10.2	0.9	na	0.4	-6.8
	Total building (%)	-0.4	-1.8	-0.2	6.2	-2.9	-1.9	5.6	-1.8	-1.7
na not available
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2002-03.

South Australia, Western Australia

Tasmania, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory