Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
June 2026
Released
30/07/2026
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Release date and time
30/07/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

The June 2026 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved rose 7.2% to 18,328.
  • Private sector houses rose 0.4% to 10,631, and private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 17.8% to 7,138.
  • The value of total residential building rose 15.1% to $11.75b.
  • The value of total non-residential building fell 24.7% to $8.26b. 

Dwellings approved

June key figures
 Jun 26 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved18,3287.28.9
 Private sector houses10,6310.415.8
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses7,13817.8-1.5
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved18,4492.014.1
 Private sector houses10,6200.713.9
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses7,3603.414.4
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved rose 7.2%, after falling 1.6% in May.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 2.0%, following a 1.3% May rise.

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

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.4%, after rising 2.4% in May. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approvals rose 17.8%, after an 11.0% fall in May.

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.7%, after gaining 1.0% in May. Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 3.4%, after a 1.5% May increase.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed: Queensland (33.4%), New South Wales (13.2%), and Western Australia (10.7%) rose in June, while approvals fell in Tasmania (-22.5%), Victoria (-13.9%), and South Australia (-11.5%).

Approvals for private sector houses were also mixed: Queensland (2.9%), South Australia (2.8%), and Victoria (2.2%) rose, while Western Australia (-5.4%) and New South Wales (-0.3%) fell.

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 Wales2,280-0.35,06313.2
Victoria3,0422.24,172-13.9
Queensland2,3532.94,84133.4
South Australia9302.81,310-11.5
Western Australia1,689-5.42,26410.7
Tasmanianana231-22.5
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia10,6310.418,3287.2

a.    Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings varied across the states and territories. Queensland (4.1%), New South Wales (3.9%), Northern Territory (3.6%), Tasmania (1.5%), and South Australia (1.0%) rose in June, while the Australian Capital Territory (-3.6%) and Western Australia (-0.2%) fell. Total dwellings in Victoria were flat.

Approvals for private sector houses were mostly higher: New South Wales (1.5%), Victoria (1.0%), South Australia (0.9%), and Queensland (0.4%) rose, while Western Australia (-0.8%) fell.
 

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 Wales2,3041.54,7623.9
Victoria3,0071.05,1340.0
Queensland2,3660.44,3144.1
South Australia9070.91,3671.0
Western Australia1,695-0.82,277-0.2
Tasmanianana2651.5
Northern Territorynana863.6
Australian Capital Territorynana239-3.6
Australia10,6200.718,4492.0

a.    Trend estimates are not published for Tasmania, NT and ACT for private sector houses.

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 work approved fell 5.5% (to $20.00b), after a 12.2% May rise. The value of total residential building gained 15.1% (to $11.75b), comprised of an 18.0% rise in new residential building (to $10.42b) and a 4.0% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.32b).

The value of non-residential building fell 24.7% (to $8.26b), after rising 40.4% in May.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 1.7% (to $18.99b), after a 1.2% May rise. The value of total residential building rose 2.2% (to $11.22b), after a 1.5% May gain. New residential building value rose 2.5% (to $9.87b) and alterations and additions fell 0.2% (to $1.36b).

The value of non-residential building rose 1.0% (to $7.77b), after a 0.7% May rise.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building10,42418.09,8662.5
Alterations and additions to residential building1,321-4.01,358-0.2
Total residential building11,74515.111,2242.2
Non-residential building8,255-24.77,7701.0
Total building20,000-5.518,9941.7

Data downloads

A supplementary release of small area data (for Statistical Area Level 2 and Local Government Areas) occurs five working days after the main publication is released. 

Small area data will be added in an ‘Additional Information’ release on the 6th of August 2026.

Dwellings approved

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Data files

Value of building approved

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Data files

Non-residential building approved

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Data files

Chain volume measures

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Data files

Demolitions

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Data files

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

    Download xlsx [53.89 KB]

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

    Download xlsx [59.55 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 2024 to May 2026. 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
  2024-252025-26
New South Wales-328
Victoria-59
Queensland9463
South Australia--
Western Australia-328
Tasmania--
Northern Territory--
Australian Capital Territory--1
Total3577

Article archive

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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 2 (SA2)
  • 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

A building approval is the official permit that allows construction to begin.

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