Building Activity, Australia

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Provides estimates of value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline

Reference period
December 2019
Released
15/04/2020

Key statistics

  • Trend estimate of total building work done fell 2.1%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done fell 4.7%. 
  • Trend estimate for number of dwelling units commenced fell 3.5%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimate for number of dwelling units commenced rose 1.2%.

Main features

December key figures

Value of work done, chain volume measures

 Dec qtr 19Sep qtr 19 to
Dec qtr 19
Dec qtr 18 to
Dec qtr 19
 $m% change% change
Trend estimates(a) 
Value of work done29 185.3-2.1-6.3
New residential building15 329.2-4.3-13.5
Alterations and additions to residential building2 225.5-0.3-4.8
Non-residential building11 627.40.64.7
Seasonally adjusted estimates(a)
Value of work done28 900.5-4.7-7.3
New residential building15 190.6-5.9-14.4
Alterations and additions to residential building2 214.0-2.0-5.4
Non-residential building11 495.9-3.63.7

a. Reference year for chain volume measures is 2017-18

 

Building work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of total building work done fell 2.1% in the December quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building work done fell 4.7% to $28,900.5m following a rise of 1.6% in the September quarter.
     

​​​​​​​New residential building work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of new residential building work done fell 4.3% in the December quarter. The value of work done on new houses fell 4.0%, while new other residential building fell 4.6%.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of new residential building work done fell 5.9% to $15,190.6m. Work done on new houses fell 5.9% to $8,373.3m, while new other residential building fell 5.9% to $6,817.3m.
     

Non-residential work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of non-residential building work done rose 0.6% in the December quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of non-residential building work done in the quarter fell 3.6% following a rise of 8.2% in the September quarter.
     

Dwelling units commenced

 Dec qtr 19Sep qtr 19 to
Dec qtr 19
Dec qtr 18 to
Dec qtr 19
 no.% change% change
Trend estimates
Total dwelling units commenced41 092-3.5-18.0
New private sector houses24 400-3.5-13.7
New private sector other residential building15 896-3.8-24.2
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Total dwelling units commenced41 6121.2-15.2
New private sector houses24 9310.0-8.8
New private sector other residential building16 0024.7-22.1

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

 

Total dwellings

  • The trend estimate for the total number of dwelling units commenced fell 3.5% in the December quarter following a fall of 3.8% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for the total number of dwelling units commenced rose 1.2% to 41,612 dwellings in the December quarter following a fall of 10.7% in the September quarter.
     

New private sector houses

  • The trend estimate for new private sector house commencements fell 3.5% in the December quarter following a fall of 3.7% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for new private sector house commencements was flat in the December quarter following a fall of 3.4% in the September quarter.
     

New private sector other residential building

  • The trend estimate for new private sector other residential building commencements fell 3.8% in the December quarter following a fall of 3.9% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for new private sector other residential building rose 4.7% to 16,002 dwellings in the December quarter following a fall of 21.4% in the September quarter.
     

Changes this issue

This publication contains feature articles and associated data cubes relating to:

  • Characteristics of apartment building heights
  • Characteristics of new residential dwellings
     

Significant revisions this issue

Compared to the estimate published in Building Activity, Australia September 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0) released on 15 January 2020:

  • the total value of work done in Australia during the September 2019 quarter has been revised upwards by $980.5m or 3.1%.
  • the total value of work commenced in Australia during the September 2019 quarter has been revised  upwards $1,439.1m or 4.8%. This was driven by an upward revision to total residential commencements of $164.2m (1.0%), and an upward revision to total non-residential commencements of $1,274.9m (9.8%).
  • the number of dwelling unit commencements in the September 2019 quarter has been revised upwards by 349 dwellings or 0.8%.
     

Data note

Several time series spreadsheets contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations from the September quarter 2012 onwards. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.

Bushfires and Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The recent bushfire events and COVID-19 did not result in significant impacts to Building Activity statistics in December 2019. Whilst it is expected that bushfire rebuilding and recovery activity will have some impact on future Building Activity, this activity is not yet present in the December estimates. The ABS is monitoring for anticipated impacts from COVID-19 on Building Activity statistics in future quarters.

Inquiries

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Data downloads - time series spreadsheets

Table 01. Value of building work done by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 02. Value of building work done by sector, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 03. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 04. Value of residential building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 05. Value of building work commenced by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 06. Value of building work commenced by sector, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 07. Value of residential building work commenced by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 08. Value of residential building work commenced, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 09. Value of building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 10. Value of building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures: original

Table 11. Value of building work commenced, states and territories - chain volume measures: original

Table 12. Value of building work done by sector, Australia

Table 13. Value of building work done by sector, New South Wales

Table 14. Value of building work done by sector, Victoria

Table 15. Value of building work done by sector, Queensland

Table 16. Value of building work done by sector, South Australia

Table 17. Value of building work done by sector, Western Australia

Table 18. Value of building work done by sector, Tasmania

Table 19. Value of building work done by sector, Northern Territory

Table 20. Value of building work done by sector, Australian Capital Territory

Table 21. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australia

Table 22. Value of residential building work done by sector, New South Wales

Table 23. Value of residential building work done by sector, Victoria

Table 24. Value of residential building work done by sector, Queensland

Table 25. Value of residential building work done by sector, South Australia

Table 26. Value of residential building work done by sector, Western Australia

Table 27. Value of residential building work done by sector, Tasmania

Table 28. Value of residential building work done by sector, Northern Territory

Table 29. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australian Capital Territory

Table 30. Value of building work commenced by sector, Australia

Table 31. Value of residential building work commenced by sector, Australia

Table 32. Value of total building work done, states and territories

Table 33. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, Australia

Table 34. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, states and territories

Table 35. Number of dwelling unit commencements, states and territories

Table 36. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, states and territories: original

Table 37. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, Australia

Table 38. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, states and territories

Table 39. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, states and territories: original

Table 40. Value of building work by sector, Australia: original

Table 41. Value of building work by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 42. Value of building work by sector, Victoria: original

Table 43. Value of building work by sector, Queensland: original

Table 44. Value of building work by sector, South Australia: original

Table 45. Value of building work by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 46. Value of building work by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 47. Value of building work by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 48. Value of building work by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 49. Value of building work under construction, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 50. Value of building work yet to be done, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 51. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Australia: original

Table 52. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 53. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Victoria: original

Table 54. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Queensland: original

Table 55. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, South Australia: original

Table 56. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 57. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 58. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 59. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 60. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Australia: original

Table 61. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 62. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Victoria: original

Table 63. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Queensland: original

Table 64. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, South Australia: original

Table 65. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 66. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 67. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 68. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 69. Value of non-residential building work under construction, by sector, Australia: original

Table 70. Value of non-residential building work under construction, states and territories: original

Table 71. Value of non-residential building work completed, by sector, Australia: original

Table 72. Value of non-residential building work completed, states and territories: original

Table 73. Value of non-residential building work yet to be done, by sector, Australia: original

Table 74. Value of non-residential building work yet to be done, states and territories: original

Table 75. Value of building work completed by sector, Australia

Table 76. Number of dwelling units under construction, by sector, Australia: original

Table 77. Number of dwelling units under construction, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 78. Value of work in the pipeline, current prices, original, Australia

Table 79. Value of work in the pipeline, states and territories, current prices, original

Table 80. Number of dwellings approved but not yet commenced at end of quarter, states and territories, original

All time series workbooks

Data downloads - data cubes

I-note

File contents

Building Activity, States and Territories, from Sep qtr 2001 contains state level data from September 2001.

Classifications - Building Activity, States and Territories, from Sep qtr 2001

State/TerritoryAll States and Territories
Reference quarterQuarterly (September 2001 to current)
Sector of ownershipPrivate, Public, Total
Type of buildingHouses
Semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses - One storey
Semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses - Two or more storeys
Semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses - Total
Flats units or apartments - In a one or two storey block
Flats units or apartments - In a three storey block
Flats units or apartments - Total including those attached to a house
Total other residential
Total residential
Retail and wholesale trade buildings
Transport buildings
Offices
Commercial buildings n.e.c
Commercial buildings - Total
Factories and other secondary production buildings
Warehouses
Agricultural and aquacultural buildings
Other industrial buildings n.e.c.
Industrial buildings - Total
Education buildings
Religious buildings
Aged care facilities
Health buildings
Entertainment and recreation buildings
Short term accommodation buildings
Other non-residential n.e.c.
Other non-residential - Total
Total non-residential
Dwellings excluding new residential
Dwellings excluding houses
Total
Type of workNew
Total alterations and additions (incl. refurbishment and conversion)
Total
Data itemsValue of work done during quarter ($m)
Value of work yet to be done ($m)
Value of work in pipeline ($m)
Value of work not yet commenced ($m)
Value of work commenced ($m)
Value of work completed ($m)
Value of work under construction ($m)
Dwelling units not yet commenced (no.)
Dwelling units commenced (no.)
Dwelling units completed (no.)
Dwelling units under construction (no.)

Formula

Type of work

Total = New + Total alterations/additions (incl. refurb and conversion)

Type of building

Total residential building = Total houses + Total other residential building
Non-house building = Total other residential building + Total non-residential building
Total building = Total residential building + Total non-residential building
Total building = Total houses + Non-house building

Definition of conversions etc.

Conversions etc. = Total building - New houses - New other residential buildings
(This is how to calculate Conversions etc., but it is the equivalent of new non-residential buildings + alterations and additions for total building)

Relative standard errors, value by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia

Relative standard errors, dwellings by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia

Relative standard errors; non-residential building by sector and stage of construction, state and Australia

Relative standard errors; value of work in pipeline; state and Australia

Building activity: validation table for data cube

Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Building activity: Australia

Building activity: number of storeys

Building activity: average cost

Building activity: average floor area

History of changes

Show all

09/06/2020 - The Building Activity, Australia data cube has been replaced due to missing data in the Northern Territory and ACT. No published data has been changed.

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