Approvals for private sector houses increase in February

Media Release

Released

3/04/2023

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, February 2023

The total number of dwellings approved rose 4.0 per cent in February, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a 27.1 per cent fall in January, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "This increase was driven by an 11.3 per cent rise in approvals for private sector houses, after a 10-year low in January. The result remains 13.6 per cent lower than February 2022.”

"Private sector dwellings excluding house approvals fell a further 9.5 per cent in February, following a 40.3 per cent decline in January, and is at its lowest level recorded since July 2012," Mr Rossi said.

"Total dwelling approvals have continued their downward trend since September 2022, following the conclusion of government stimulus and rising interest rates."

Across Australia, total dwelling approvals increased sharply in Tasmania (+122.1 per cent), while South Australia (+28.5 per cent), New South Wales (+14.0 per cent) and Victoria (+8.5 per cent), also rose. Queensland (-13.7 per cent) and Western Australia (-6.4 per cent) fell in seasonally adjusted terms.

Approvals for private sector houses rose in all states: Queensland (+18.8 per cent), Victoria (+10.3 per cent), New South Wales (+9.9 per cent), Western Australia (+2.4 per cent), and South Australia (+1.6 per cent).

The value of total building approvals rose 19.7 per cent, following a 19.2 per cent fall in January. The value of total residential building approvals rose 7.7 per cent, comprised of an 8.4 per cent increase in new residential building and a 3.7 per cent rise in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building approved increased 39.8 per cent, following a 27.6 per cent fall in January.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia.

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted
	Total dwellings	Private sector houses	Private sector dwellings excluding houses
Feb-08	13,699	9,261	4,093
Mar-08	12,491	8,835	3,468
Apr-08	13,673	9,067	4,298
May-08	13,101	8,745	3,988
Jun-08	13,471	8,751	4,237
Jul-08	13,170	8,307	4,426
Aug-08	12,392	8,121	3,914
Sep-08	11,712	7,680	3,678
Oct-08	11,521	7,573	3,689
Nov-08	10,322	7,185	2,813
Dec-08	10,203	6,996	2,558
Jan-09	9,418	7,205	2,016
Feb-09	10,712	7,403	3,074
Mar-09	10,834	7,611	2,907
Apr-09	11,493	7,948	3,083
May-09	10,853	8,236	1,989
Jun-09	12,016	8,772	2,518
Jul-09	13,218	8,911	3,572
Aug-09	12,797	9,402	2,670
Sep-09	14,064	9,514	3,900
Oct-09	13,629	9,925	2,942
Nov-09	14,891	9,892	3,487
Dec-09	15,318	9,982	3,829
Jan-10	14,976	9,989	3,200
Feb-10	15,419	9,986	3,429
Mar-10	17,050	9,956	4,812
Apr-10	15,854	9,461	4,746
May-10	14,943	9,293	4,346
Jun-10	14,653	9,113	4,756
Jul-10	15,392	8,896	5,452
Aug-10	15,046	8,689	5,316
Sep-10	13,863	8,480	4,646
Oct-10	15,315	8,568	6,076
Nov-10	14,102	8,392	5,099
Dec-10	15,097	8,468	5,914
Jan-11	13,128	8,336	4,459
Feb-11	12,881	8,296	4,244
Mar-11	14,208	8,193	5,546
Apr-11	13,835	8,169	5,412
May-11	12,767	8,015	4,463
Jun-11	12,819	7,996	4,453
Jul-11	13,095	7,649	4,922
Aug-11	14,895	7,766	6,711
Sep-11	12,302	7,773	4,283
Oct-11	11,352	7,273	3,878
Nov-11	11,845	7,613	4,020
Dec-11	11,732	7,694	3,900
Jan-12	11,224	7,806	3,204
Feb-12	11,793	7,353	4,284
Mar-12	11,739	7,509	4,049
Apr-12	10,846	6,832	3,913
May-12	14,213	7,299	6,783
Jun-12	14,878	7,275	7,386
Jul-12	11,756	7,674	3,830
Aug-12	13,410	7,697	5,581
Sep-12	15,221	7,923	7,128
Oct-12	14,271	7,826	5,979
Nov-12	13,878	7,720	5,912
Dec-12	13,881	7,766	5,904
Jan-13	12,746	7,813	4,744
Feb-13	13,679	7,776	5,248
Mar-13	13,298	7,957	5,104
Apr-13	14,976	8,157	6,512
May-13	14,424	8,370	5,563
Jun-13	13,771	8,264	5,120
Jul-13	15,266	8,527	6,403
Aug-13	14,892	8,414	6,289
Sep-13	18,359	8,674	9,411
Oct-13	17,642	8,724	8,656
Nov-13	17,261	9,241	7,726
Dec-13	16,978	9,081	7,640
Jan-14	17,772	10,200	7,265
Feb-14	16,730	9,750	6,763
Mar-14	15,983	9,370	6,355
Apr-14	16,470	9,751	6,363
May-14	16,801	9,784	6,789
Jun-14	16,608	9,662	6,616
Jul-14	17,110	9,774	7,095
Aug-14	18,575	9,689	8,631
Sep-14	16,411	9,547	6,630
Oct-14	18,191	9,859	8,143
Nov-14	20,118	9,845	10,054
Dec-14	20,332	9,731	10,155
Jan-15	19,882	9,939	9,617
Feb-15	19,512	9,717	9,449
Mar-15	20,782	9,629	10,833
Apr-15	19,057	9,590	9,150
May-15	20,887	9,542	11,055
Jun-15	19,381	9,914	9,125
Jul-15	19,852	9,740	9,210
Aug-15	19,355	10,078	9,120
Sep-15	20,404	9,814	10,318
Oct-15	21,586	9,744	11,606
Nov-15	18,644	9,656	8,909
Dec-15	20,261	10,283	9,811
Jan-16	18,838	9,833	8,713
Feb-16	19,690	9,830	9,506
Mar-16	20,692	10,235	10,251
Apr-16	20,733	10,001	10,531
May-16	20,297	10,015	9,974
Jun-16	18,691	9,669	8,824
Jul-16	21,563	9,594	11,713
Aug-16	21,999	9,694	11,910
Sep-16	19,163	9,793	9,197
Oct-16	16,580	9,552	6,719
Nov-16	18,371	9,636	8,487
Dec-16	18,340	9,407	8,792
Jan-17	17,068	9,193	7,679
Feb-17	18,831	9,441	9,154
Mar-17	16,512	9,297	6,992
Apr-17	18,190	9,472	8,503
May-17	17,014	9,787	7,066
Jun-17	18,693	9,968	8,512
Jul-17	19,398	10,209	8,721
Aug-17	19,453	10,247	9,026
Sep-17	19,555	10,110	9,189
Oct-17	19,728	10,137	9,266
Nov-17	22,997	10,072	12,766
Dec-17	17,962	10,194	7,613
Jan-18	19,595	9,880	9,445
Feb-18	19,023	10,273	8,442
Mar-18	19,632	10,467	9,010
Apr-18	18,351	10,577	7,575
May-18	18,063	9,919	7,985
Jun-18	19,561	10,244	8,990
Jul-18	18,657	10,138	8,255
Aug-18	16,422	9,971	6,303
Sep-18	16,688	9,611	6,748
Oct-18	17,318	10,044	7,097
Nov-18	14,959	9,374	5,458
Dec-18	14,291	9,083	5,081
Jan-19	14,641	9,320	5,127
Feb-19	16,428	8,923	7,400
Mar-19	15,085	8,541	6,327
Apr-19	14,432	8,559	5,736
May-19	14,473	8,788	5,464
Jun-19	14,984	8,871	5,731
Jul-19	13,650	8,628	4,721
Aug-19	13,781	8,534	5,127
Sep-19	14,525	8,761	5,610
Oct-19	14,502	8,210	6,080
Nov-19	14,678	8,507	5,996
Dec-19	16,058	8,672	7,209
Jan-20	13,441	8,647	4,655
Feb-20	16,139	8,687	7,276
Mar-20	15,385	8,581	6,593
Apr-20	15,093	8,804	5,904
May-20	13,304	8,821	4,191
Jun-20	12,901	8,381	4,129
Jul-20	15,200	9,295	5,585
Aug-20	14,396	9,652	4,567
Sep-20	16,085	10,568	5,119
Oct-20	17,423	11,149	5,929
Nov-20	17,537	11,554	5,654
Dec-20	19,366	13,333	5,797
Jan-21	16,974	12,172	4,470
Feb-21	20,041	13,994	5,648
Mar-21	23,237	14,216	8,520
Apr-21	20,201	13,539	6,403
May-21	20,712	13,657	6,800
Jun-21	19,855	12,534	6,903
Jul-21	18,171	11,940	5,946
Aug-21	19,143	12,031	6,839
Sep-21	18,276	10,483	7,581
Oct-21	16,039	10,470	5,253
Nov-21	16,139	10,409	5,514
Dec-21	17,321	10,057	7,027
Jan-22	13,248	8,670	4,351
Feb-22	18,386	9,856	7,249
Mar-22	15,241	9,773	5,174
Apr-22	15,267	9,719	5,395
May-22	16,593	9,570	6,700
Jun-22	16,611	9,715	6,434
Jul-22	13,947	9,737	3,994
Aug-22	17,856	10,353	7,227
Sep-22	16,203	9,446	6,541
Oct-22	15,307	9,334	5,793
Nov-22	14,601	9,081	5,186
Dec-22	16,688	8,851	7,278
Jan-23	12,169	7,655	4,347
Feb-23	12,661	8,520	3,935

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted

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Media notes

"Private sector dwellings excluding houses" includes semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments.
When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
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