Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
February 2025
Released
2/04/2025
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    Building Approvals, Australia, March 2025
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Key statistics

The February 2025 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 0.3%, to 16,606.
  • Private sector houses rose 1.0%, to 9,203, while private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.5%, to 7,113.
  • The value of total residential building rose 5.0%, to $9.65b.
  • The value of non-residential building fell 16.5%, to $4.69b.

Dwellings approved

February key figures
 Feb 25 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved16,606-0.325.7
 Private sector houses9,2031.05.2
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses7,113-1.573.1
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved15,4060.116.1
 Private sector houses9,086-0.43.3
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,9851.641.6
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved fell 0.3%, after rising 6.9% in January. 

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 0.1%, following a 0.1% fall in January.
 

  1. Trend break added to 'Private sector houses' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 1.0%, after rising 1.4% in January. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approved fell 1.5%, following a 14.0% January increase.

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals fell 0.4%, after a 0.5% January fall. Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 1.6%, following a 1.1% January increase.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings rose in most states: Tasmania (61.3%), Victoria (36.4%), Western Australia (17.1%), Queensland (13.0%), and South Australia (5.4%) rose. New South Wales was the only state to fall in February (-44.1%). 

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed: New South Wales (5.1%), Queensland (0.5%), and Victoria (0.3%) rose. Falls were recorded in Western Australia (-8.5%) and South Australia (-1.9%).
 

Dwellings approved, states and territories, seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,8905.13,390-44.1
Victoria2,6990.36,02436.4
Queensland1,9740.52,93813.0
South Australia871-1.91,3945.4
Western Australia1,391-8.52,22817.1
Tasmanianana29261.3
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,2031.016,606-0.3

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings were varied across the states and territories: Australian Capital Territory (9.3%), Northern Territory (5.7%), South Australia (4.6%), and Victoria (2.2%) rose. Queensland (-2.8%), Western Australia (-2.3%), Tasmania (-2.1%), and New South Wales (-1.4%) fell in February.

Approvals for private sector houses fell in Western Australia (-1.6%), Queensland (-0.8%), and Victoria (-0.6%). New South Wales rose (0.6%) and the result in South Australia was flat, in trend terms.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,8220.63,739-1.4
Victoria2,677-0.65,1172.2
Queensland1,959-0.82,968-2.8
South Australia8830.01,3144.6
Western Australia1,445-1.61,777-2.3
Tasmanianana184-2.1
Northern Territorynana565.7
Australian Capital Territorynana2009.3
Australia9,086-0.415,4060.1

Value of building approved

  1. Trend break added to 'Total residential' trend series for September 2020 and February 2021.

Value of building approved, seasonally adjusted

The value of total building approved fell 3.1% (to $14.34b), following a 7.1% fall in January. The value of total residential building rose 5.0% (to $9.65b), comprised of a 5.8% increase in new residential building (to $8.49b) and a 0.3% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.16b).

The value of non-residential building fell 16.5% (to $4.69b), after a 21.6% decrease in January.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.3% (to $15.00b), following a 0.9% rise in January. The value of total residential building rose 2.3% (to $9.35b), comprised of a 2.7% increase in new residential building (to $8.19b), and 0.1% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.16b).

The value of non-residential building fell 2.7% (to $5.65b), following a 1.4% decrease in January.
 

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building8,4945.88,1942.7
Alterations and additions to residential building1,161-0.31,156-0.1
Total residential building9,6545.09,3492.3
Non-residential building4,687-16.55,649-2.7
Total building14,341-3.114,9980.3

Data downloads

Dwellings approved

Data files

Value of building approved

Data files

Non-residential building approved

Data files
Download all (480.56 KB)

Chain volume measures

Data files
Download all (100.51 KB)

Demolitions

Data files

  • Table 87. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, original, states and territories

    Download xlsx [53.04 KB]

  • Table 88. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, by Greater Capital City Statistical Area - original

    Download xlsx [58.29 KB]

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the time period when using Data Explorer.

Help for: Data Explorer Datasets

Building Approvals by Greater Capital Cities Statistical Area (GCCSA) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2001 onwards

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2023 to January 2025. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found here: "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".

Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:

Dwellings revised
  2023-242024-25
New South Wales1194
Victoria--22
Queensland1105
South Australia-2-
Western Australia219
Tasmania-2
Northern Territory--
Australian Capital Territory--
Total2298

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8731.0.

Methodology

Scope

Approvals included:

  • construction of new buildings
  • alterations and additions to existing buildings
  • non-structural renovation and refurbishment
  • installation of integral building fixtures
  • full demolitions of existing dwellings.

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
  • Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
  • Local Government Areas.

Source

Administrative data collection from local government or other approving authorities.

Collection method

Statistics of building work approved are compiled from:

  • local government authorities and other principal certifying authorities
  • contracts authorised by government authorities
  • media reports and the Building Activity Survey.

Concepts, sources and methods

Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.

History of changes

Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated from the May 2022 release.

View full methodology

Media releases