Dwelling approvals bounce back in August

Media Release

Released

30/09/2021

Source

Building Approvals, Australia, August 2021

The number of dwellings approved rose 6.8 per cent in August (seasonally adjusted), ending a run of four consecutive monthly declines, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS Director of Construction Statistics, said: "The increase in the total number of dwellings approved in August was driven by approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses, which rose 13.7 per cent. Private sector houses also rose, by 3.5 per cent.

"The August result indicates that approvals for detached housing remain strong despite the unwinding of stimulus measures in April and the on-going lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria. Driven by record low interest rates, increased household savings and confidence in the housing market, private house approvals are 23.8 per cent higher year on year and 42.0 per cent higher than August 2019." Mr Rossi said.

Across Australia, the number of dwelling approvals rose in Western Australia (21.0 per cent), South Australia (11.8 per cent), Victoria (10.5 per cent) and Queensland (4.0 per cent), in seasonally adjusted terms. Falls were recorded in Tasmania (-18.9 per cent) and New South Wales (-2.3 per cent).

Approvals for private sector houses rose in South Australia (16.6 per cent), Victoria (8.1 per cent) and New South Wales (7.0 per cent). Western Australia (-7.3 per cent) and Queensland (-5.2 per cent) both fell in seasonally adjusted terms.

The value of total building rose 20.3 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of non-residential building rose 43.8%, having fallen 30.6% in July. The rise in August was driven by a strong increase in private sector approvals.

The value of total residential building rose 9.2%, comprising a 9.0% increase in new residential building, and a 10.0% rise in alterations and additions. The value of approvals for alterations and additions rose to the second highest level recorded, behind April 2021.

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted
	Total dwellings	Private sector houses	Private sector dwellings excluding houses
Aug-06	12,812	8,931	3,596
Sep-06	13,062	9,085	3,685
Oct-06	12,304	8,463	3,583
Nov-06	12,752	8,957	3,493
Dec-06	12,549	8,836	3,365
Jan-07	12,628	8,617	3,716
Feb-07	13,743	8,542	4,836
Mar-07	12,375	8,681	3,441
Apr-07	13,038	9,097	3,563
May-07	12,745	8,742	3,758
Jun-07	13,287	8,640	4,265
Jul-07	13,389	8,849	3,947
Aug-07	12,999	8,805	3,790
Sep-07	14,045	9,172	4,398
Oct-07	14,107	9,091	4,733
Nov-07	14,647	9,434	4,883
Dec-07	14,364	9,177	4,755
Jan-08	14,351	9,325	4,638
Feb-08	13,704	9,251	4,110
Mar-08	12,453	8,813	3,451
Apr-08	13,791	9,154	4,329
May-08	13,119	8,748	4,004
Jun-08	13,436	8,742	4,211
Jul-08	13,186	8,315	4,431
Aug-08	12,361	8,116	3,888
Sep-08	11,702	7,674	3,671
Oct-08	11,516	7,570	3,688
Nov-08	10,323	7,188	2,813
Dec-08	10,210	6,989	2,572
Jan-09	9,436	7,206	2,032
Feb-09	10,712	7,403	3,075
Mar-09	10,764	7,571	2,876
Apr-09	11,362	7,802	3,099
May-09	10,866	8,230	2,009
Jun-09	11,991	8,764	2,503
Jul-09	13,239	8,918	3,586
Aug-09	12,778	9,407	2,648
Sep-09	14,095	9,515	3,916
Oct-09	13,626	9,921	2,944
Nov-09	14,867	9,878	3,481
Dec-09	15,336	9,969	3,861
Jan-10	14,993	9,978	3,226
Feb-10	15,412	9,977	3,429
Mar-10	16,985	9,929	4,771
Apr-10	16,014	9,601	4,769
May-10	14,930	9,286	4,341
Jun-10	14,615	9,116	4,716
Jul-10	15,410	8,900	5,464
Aug-10	14,991	8,674	5,277
Sep-10	13,902	8,483	4,666
Oct-10	15,310	8,557	6,084
Nov-10	14,077	8,380	5,095
Dec-10	15,146	8,452	5,979
Jan-11	13,118	8,326	4,458
Feb-11	12,870	8,284	4,244
Mar-11	14,169	8,174	5,526
Apr-11	13,788	8,098	5,436
May-11	12,756	8,002	4,465
Jun-11	12,772	7,989	4,413
Jul-11	13,105	7,651	4,929
Aug-11	14,816	7,768	6,630
Sep-11	12,319	7,762	4,311
Oct-11	11,331	7,263	3,868
Nov-11	11,850	7,613	4,025
Dec-11	11,778	7,676	3,965
Jan-12	11,221	7,798	3,207
Feb-12	11,789	7,343	4,289
Mar-12	11,718	7,492	4,045
Apr-12	10,786	6,768	3,917
May-12	14,204	7,290	6,782
Jun-12	14,827	7,273	7,337
Jul-12	11,742	7,674	3,818
Aug-12	13,393	7,694	5,565
Sep-12	15,222	7,916	7,137
Oct-12	14,249	7,824	5,958
Nov-12	13,877	7,703	5,928
Dec-12	13,895	7,735	5,949
Jan-13	12,757	7,797	4,768
Feb-13	13,681	7,763	5,261
Mar-13	13,288	7,960	5,090
Apr-13	14,929	8,097	6,525
May-13	14,436	8,354	5,592
Jun-13	13,696	8,252	5,058
Jul-13	15,263	8,533	6,395
Aug-13	14,855	8,413	6,251
Sep-13	18,319	8,658	9,388
Oct-13	17,589	8,706	8,622
Nov-13	17,286	9,247	7,746
Dec-13	17,000	9,050	7,694
Jan-14	17,829	10,182	7,336
Feb-14	16,753	9,733	6,803
Mar-14	15,951	9,362	6,332
Apr-14	16,409	9,680	6,374
May-14	16,819	9,759	6,831
Jun-14	16,533	9,655	6,549
Jul-14	17,037	9,732	7,065
Aug-14	18,583	9,729	8,593
Sep-14	16,385	9,548	6,606
Oct-14	18,124	9,843	8,094
Nov-14	20,109	9,828	10,061
Dec-14	20,347	9,695	10,209
Jan-15	19,981	9,908	9,741
Feb-15	19,624	9,703	9,573
Mar-15	20,762	9,647	10,793
Apr-15	19,255	9,774	9,165
May-15	20,905	9,549	11,062
Jun-15	19,307	9,922	9,045
Jul-15	19,774	9,711	9,164
Aug-15	19,306	10,109	9,035
Sep-15	20,304	9,781	10,256
Oct-15	21,517	9,724	11,557
Nov-15	18,714	9,681	8,952
Dec-15	20,211	10,182	9,863
Jan-16	18,992	9,851	8,847
Feb-16	19,877	9,868	9,654
Mar-16	20,581	10,162	10,216
Apr-16	20,830	9,985	10,642
May-16	20,191	10,006	9,873
Jun-16	18,493	9,583	8,715
Jul-16	21,487	9,589	11,639
Aug-16	21,762	9,732	11,632
Sep-16	19,210	9,763	9,280
Oct-16	16,468	9,569	6,597
Nov-16	18,444	9,620	8,575
Dec-16	18,335	9,362	8,828
Jan-17	17,087	9,178	7,708
Feb-17	19,105	9,443	9,417
Mar-17	16,548	9,309	7,021
Apr-17	18,106	9,383	8,503
May-17	16,926	9,749	7,020
Jun-17	18,901	9,917	8,773
Jul-17	19,119	10,192	8,460
Aug-17	19,153	10,142	8,830
Sep-17	19,631	10,133	9,253
Oct-17	19,567	10,157	9,092
Nov-17	23,121	10,022	12,939
Dec-17	18,016	10,252	7,599
Jan-18	19,624	9,882	9,475
Feb-18	19,282	10,254	8,711
Mar-18	19,673	10,514	9,006
Apr-18	18,387	10,585	7,600
May-18	17,881	9,718	8,007
Jun-18	19,396	10,270	8,800
Jul-18	18,338	10,029	8,044
Aug-18	16,404	9,938	6,316
Sep-18	16,664	9,534	6,814
Oct-18	17,148	9,998	6,983
Nov-18	15,149	9,402	5,614
Dec-18	14,291	9,149	5,006
Jan-19	14,547	9,145	5,208
Feb-19	16,681	8,919	7,650
Mar-19	15,109	8,668	6,221
Apr-19	14,328	8,496	5,698
May-19	14,513	8,655	5,639
Jun-19	14,670	8,745	5,541
Jul-19	13,335	8,579	4,462
Aug-19	13,717	8,458	5,132
Sep-19	14,539	8,602	5,786
Oct-19	14,216	8,040	5,975
Nov-19	14,842	8,656	6,003
Dec-19	15,874	8,668	7,015
Jan-20	13,555	8,635	4,776
Feb-20	16,204	8,704	7,317
Mar-20	15,242	8,639	6,373
Apr-20	15,239	8,850	6,018
May-20	13,193	8,741	4,149
Jun-20	12,701	8,341	3,934
Jul-20	14,489	9,120	5,054
Aug-20	14,264	9,698	4,379
Sep-20	16,027	10,528	5,137
Oct-20	17,286	11,197	5,763
Nov-20	17,808	11,851	5,611
Dec-20	19,119	13,266	5,611
Jan-21	16,983	12,277	4,351
Feb-21	20,166	14,113	5,637
Mar-21	23,445	14,596	8,385
Apr-21	22,258	15,451	6,524
May-21	20,505	13,853	6,400
Jun-21	19,190	12,282	6,488
Jul-21	17,532	11,604	5,676
Aug-21	18,716	12,009	6,453

Dwelling units approved, by building type, seasonally adjusted

["","Total dwellings","Private sector houses","Private sector dwellings excluding houses"]

[["Aug-06","Sep-06","Oct-06","Nov-06","Dec-06","Jan-07","Feb-07","Mar-07","Apr-07","May-07","Jun-07","Jul-07","Aug-07","Sep-07","Oct-07","Nov-07","Dec-07","Jan-08","Feb-08","Mar-08","Apr-08","May-08","Jun-08","Jul-08","Aug-08","Sep-08","Oct-08","Nov-08","Dec-08","Jan-09","Feb-09","Mar-09","Apr-09","May-09","Jun-09","Jul-09","Aug-09","Sep-09","Oct-09","Nov-09","Dec-09","Jan-10","Feb-10","Mar-10","Apr-10","May-10","Jun-10","Jul-10","Aug-10","Sep-10","Oct-10","Nov-10","Dec-10","Jan-11","Feb-11","Mar-11","Apr-11","May-11","Jun-11","Jul-11","Aug-11","Sep-11","Oct-11","Nov-11","Dec-11","Jan-12","Feb-12","Mar-12","Apr-12","May-12","Jun-12","Jul-12","Aug-12","Sep-12","Oct-12","Nov-12","Dec-12","Jan-13","Feb-13","Mar-13","Apr-13","May-13","Jun-13","Jul-13","Aug-13","Sep-13","Oct-13","Nov-13","Dec-13","Jan-14","Feb-14","Mar-14","Apr-14","May-14","Jun-14","Jul-14","Aug-14","Sep-14","Oct-14","Nov-14","Dec-14","Jan-15","Feb-15","Mar-15","Apr-15","May-15","Jun-15","Jul-15","Aug-15","Sep-15","Oct-15","Nov-15","Dec-15","Jan-16","Feb-16","Mar-16","Apr-16","May-16","Jun-16","Jul-16","Aug-16","Sep-16","Oct-16","Nov-16","Dec-16","Jan-17","Feb-17","Mar-17","Apr-17","May-17","Jun-17","Jul-17","Aug-17","Sep-17","Oct-17","Nov-17","Dec-17","Jan-18","Feb-18","Mar-18","Apr-18","May-18","Jun-18","Jul-18","Aug-18","Sep-18","Oct-18","Nov-18","Dec-18","Jan-19","Feb-19","Mar-19","Apr-19","May-19","Jun-19","Jul-19","Aug-19","Sep-19","Oct-19","Nov-19","Dec-19","Jan-20","Feb-20","Mar-20","Apr-20","May-20","Jun-20","Jul-20","Aug-20","Sep-20","Oct-20","Nov-20","Dec-20","Jan-21","Feb-21","Mar-21","Apr-21","May-21","Jun-21","Jul-21","Aug-21"],[[12812],[13062],[12304],[12752],[12549],[12628],[13743],[12375],[13038],[12745],[13287],[13389],[12999],[14045],[14107],[14647],[14364],[14351],[13704],[12453],[13791],[13119],[13436],[13186],[12361],[11702],[11516],[10323],[10210],[9436],[10712],[10764],[11362],[10866],[11991],[13239],[12778],[14095],[13626],[14867],[15336],[14993],[15412],[16985],[16014],[14930],[14615],[15410],[14991],[13902],[15310],[14077],[15146],[13118],[12870],[14169],[13788],[12756],[12772],[13105],[14816],[12319],[11331],[11850],[11778],[11221],[11789],[11718],[10786],[14204],[14827],[11742],[13393],[15222],[14249],[13877],[13895],[12757],[13681],[13288],[14929],[14436],[13696],[15263],[14855],[18319],[17589],[17286],[17000],[17829],[16753],[15951],[16409],[16819],[16533],[17037],[18583],[16385],[18124],[20109],[20347],[19981],[19624],[20762],[19255],[20905],[19307],[19774],[19306],[20304],[21517],[18714],[20211],[18992],[19877],[20581],[20830],[20191],[18493],[21487],[21762],[19210],[16468],[18444],[18335],[17087],[19105],[16548],[18106],[16926],[18901],[19119],[19153],[19631],[19567],[23121],[18016],[19624],[19282],[19673],[18387],[17881],[19396],[18338],[16404],[16664],[17148],[15149],[14291],[14547],[16681],[15109],[14328],[14513],[14670],[13335],[13717],[14539],[14216],[14842],[15874],[13555],[16204],[15242],[15239],[13193],[12701],[14489],[14264],[16027],[17286],[17808],[19119],[16983],[20166],[23445],[22258],[20505],[19190],[17532],[18716]],[[8931],[9085],[8463],[8957],[8836],[8617],[8542],[8681],[9097],[8742],[8640],[8849],[8805],[9172],[9091],[9434],[9177],[9325],[9251],[8813],[9154],[8748],[8742],[8315],[8116],[7674],[7570],[7188],[6989],[7206],[7403],[7571],[7802],[8230],[8764],[8918],[9407],[9515],[9921],[9878],[9969],[9978],[9977],[9929],[9601],[9286],[9116],[8900],[8674],[8483],[8557],[8380],[8452],[8326],[8284],[8174],[8098],[8002],[7989],[7651],[7768],[7762],[7263],[7613],[7676],[7798],[7343],[7492],[6768],[7290],[7273],[7674],[7694],[7916],[7824],[7703],[7735],[7797],[7763],[7960],[8097],[8354],[8252],[8533],[8413],[8658],[8706],[9247],[9050],[10182],[9733],[9362],[9680],[9759],[9655],[9732],[9729],[9548],[9843],[9828],[9695],[9908],[9703],[9647],[9774],[9549],[9922],[9711],[10109],[9781],[9724],[9681],[10182],[9851],[9868],[10162],[9985],[10006],[9583],[9589],[9732],[9763],[9569],[9620],[9362],[9178],[9443],[9309],[9383],[9749],[9917],[10192],[10142],[10133],[10157],[10022],[10252],[9882],[10254],[10514],[10585],[9718],[10270],[10029],[9938],[9534],[9998],[9402],[9149],[9145],[8919],[8668],[8496],[8655],[8745],[8579],[8458],[8602],[8040],[8656],[8668],[8635],[8704],[8639],[8850],[8741],[8341],[9120],[9698],[10528],[11197],[11851],[13266],[12277],[14113],[14596],[15451],[13853],[12282],[11604],[12009]],[[3596],[3685],[3583],[3493],[3365],[3716],[4836],[3441],[3563],[3758],[4265],[3947],[3790],[4398],[4733],[4883],[4755],[4638],[4110],[3451],[4329],[4004],[4211],[4431],[3888],[3671],[3688],[2813],[2572],[2032],[3075],[2876],[3099],[2009],[2503],[3586],[2648],[3916],[2944],[3481],[3861],[3226],[3429],[4771],[4769],[4341],[4716],[5464],[5277],[4666],[6084],[5095],[5979],[4458],[4244],[5526],[5436],[4465],[4413],[4929],[6630],[4311],[3868],[4025],[3965],[3207],[4289],[4045],[3917],[6782],[7337],[3818],[5565],[7137],[5958],[5928],[5949],[4768],[5261],[5090],[6525],[5592],[5058],[6395],[6251],[9388],[8622],[7746],[7694],[7336],[6803],[6332],[6374],[6831],[6549],[7065],[8593],[6606],[8094],[10061],[10209],[9741],[9573],[10793],[9165],[11062],[9045],[9164],[9035],[10256],[11557],[8952],[9863],[8847],[9654],[10216],[10642],[9873],[8715],[11639],[11632],[9280],[6597],[8575],[8828],[7708],[9417],[7021],[8503],[7020],[8773],[8460],[8830],[9253],[9092],[12939],[7599],[9475],[8711],[9006],[7600],[8007],[8800],[8044],[6316],[6814],[6983],[5614],[5006],[5208],[7650],[6221],[5698],[5639],[5541],[4462],[5132],[5786],[5975],[6003],[7015],[4776],[7317],[6373],[6018],[4149],[3934],[5054],[4379],[5137],[5763],[5611],[5611],[4351],[5637],[8385],[6524],[6400],[6488],[5676],[6453]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":"","table_units":"","tooltip_units":"","axis_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Media notes

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).
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
"Private sector dwellings excluding houses" includes semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments.

APA

Citation

Dwelling approvals bounce back in August

APA

Citation

Media notes

Provide feedback