CONSTRUCTION


BUILDING APPROVALS

For the seventh consecutive month the number of dwelling units approved in South Australia (in trend terms) has increased, with 1,046 approvals recorded in February 2010. Nationally, the total number of dwelling units approved (in trend terms) rose slightly to 14,677 (0.6%), continuing the upward movement that began in February 2009.

The trend estimate for the number of private sector houses approved in South Australia in February 2010 fell slightly to 731. Private sector house approvals as a proportion of total dwelling units have fallen from 77.1% in July 2009 to 69.9% in February 2010.

In the year to February 2010, the total number of dwelling units approved in South Australia fell 7.8% over the previous year. Decreases occurred across all statistical divisions (SDs) with the Northern Statistical Division recording the largest fall (24.0%), followed closely by the South East (23.9%) and Yorke and Lower North (23.2%) SDs.

DWELLING UNITS APPROVED, by Statistical Division, Original, South Australia
	Year ended February 2009		Year ended February 2010
	Dwelling units	Change over previous year	Dwelling units	Change over previous year
	no.	%	no.	%
Adelaide	8 738	3.8	8 428	-3.5
Outer Adelaide	1 723	11.6	1 483	-13.9
Yorke and Lower North	583	2.1	448	-23.2
Murray Lands	495	15.7	445	-10.1
South East	532	41.1	405	-23.9
Eyre	294	1.0	271	-7.8
Northern	463	-3.1	352	-24.0
South Australia	12 828	5.9	11 832	-7.8
Source: Building Approvals, Australia - data available on request

Map of South Australia's Statistical Divisions (PDF 3.083MB)


CONSTRUCTION WORK DONE

In the December quarter 2009, the total value of building work done (in trend terms) in South Australia rose to $1,149.8m, an increase of 2.8% over the September quarter.

The trend estimate for the value of engineering work done has more than doubled (114.2%) between the December quarters of 2007 and 2009 ($628.7m to $1,346.9m). For the last two quarters, the value of engineering work done has exceeded the value of building work done. This upsurge in engineering construction is the focus of the feature article presented in this month's issue of SA Stats. For a full copy of the article see Engineering Construction in South Australia.