This release includes data on average commencement times, average completion times and abandonment rates for new dwellings in the Data downloads section. For more information about these data please see the June 2019 feature articles in the Article archive section.
Building Activity, Australia
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Data downloadProvides estimates of value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline
Reference period
June 2021
Released
13/10/2021
Key statistics
In seasonally adjusted terms in the June quarter:
- Total dwelling unit commencements rose 23.2% to 64,596 dwellings.
- New private sector house commencements rose 13.7% to 40,820 dwellings.
- New private sector other residential commencements rose 47.5% to 22,515 dwellings.
- The value of total building work done fell -0.2% to $30.3b.
Number of dwellings commenced
| Jun qtr 21 no. | Mar qtr 21 to Jun qtr 21 % change | Jun qtr 20 to Jun qtr 21 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Seasonally adjusted | |||
| Total dwelling units commenced | 64,596 | 23.2 | 52.8 |
| New private sector houses | 40,820 | 13.7 | 58.9 |
| New private sector other residential building | 22,515 | 47.5 | 45.1 |
Dwelling units commenced, seasonally adjusted
Private dwellings commenced, seasonally adjusted
The total number of dwelling units commenced rose 23.2% to a record high of 64,596 dwellings in the June quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. Private sector new house commencements rose 13.7% to a record high of 40,820 dwellings, following a 6.0% rise in the March quarter. Private other residential dwelling commencements rose 47.5% to 22,515 dwellings, following a -9.6% fall in the March quarter.
Value of work done
Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2018-2019
| Jun qtr 21 $m | Mar qtr 21 to Jun qtr 21 % change | Jun qtr 20 to Jun qtr 21 % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Seasonally adjusted chain volume measures | |||
| Total value of work done | 30,333.8 | -0.2 | 2.0 |
| New residential building | 15,918.0 | -0.7 | 4.7 |
| Alterations and additions to residential building | 2,796.4 | -1.9 | 21.5 |
| Non-residential building | 11,619.4 | 0.9 | -5.1 |
Value of work done, total building, seasonally adjusted chain volume measures
Value of work done, seasonally adjusted chain volume measures
The value of total building work done fell -0.2% to $30.3b in the June quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The fall was driven by new residential building work done, which fell -0.7% to $15.9b. Work done on new houses fell -0.4% to $9.9b, while new other residential building fell -1.3% to $6.1b. Non-residential building work done rose 0.9% to $11.6b.
Data downloads
Time series spreadsheets
Data files
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
File contents
Data cubes
Data files
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)
About this issue
This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia on 25 August 2021. The data in this publication are based on a response rate of approximately 85% of the value of building work done during the quarter. This is lower than the average response rate due to difficulties collecting data as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data are subject to revision when returns from the following quarter are processed. Final data for the June 2021 quarter will be released in the next release of this publication, Building Activity, Australia on 19 January 2022.
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.
Inquiries
For inquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.
Changes this release
Revisions
Compared to the estimate published in Building Activity, Australia March 2021 released on 14 July 2021:
- the total value of work done in Australia during the March 2021 quarter has been revised upwards by $178.2m or 0.6% (original, current price).
- the total value of work commenced in Australia during the March 2021 quarter has been revised upwards $1,669.7m or 5.5% (original, current price). This was driven by an upward revision to total non-residential commencements of $1,150.4m (10.0%), and an upward revision to total residential commencements of $519.3m (2.7%).
- the number of dwelling unit commencements in the March 2021 quarter has been revised upwards by 406 dwellings or 0.8% (original).
Suspension of trend series
The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in construction activity. This measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in activity during this time, as the construction industry faces on-going uncertainty. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this irregular event, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying building activity.
It may be some time before the underlying trend in building activity can be accurately estimated. The trend series have therefore been suspended starting from June 2020. The trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend.
Update to seasonal adjustment methods
Building Activity uses the concurrent seasonal adjustment method. This means that seasonal factors are re-estimated each time a new data point becomes available. Not accounting for unusual real-world events, such as COVID-19, can distort estimates calculated using this method.
From September 2020, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including June 2020. These are then projected from September 2020 onwards, for:
- Private and total sector non-residential building work done in Victoria.
From December 2020, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including September 2020. These are then projected from December 2020 onwards, for:
- New houses and alterations and additions to residential commencement series in all states and territories.
From March 2021, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including December 2020. These are then projected from March 2021 onwards, for:
- Private and total sector non-residential building work done in Queensland, and
- new houses and alterations and additions to residential work done series in all states and territories.
This approach, known as the forward factor method, ensures that the seasonal factors are not distorted by COVID-19 impacts.
Article archive
Building a New Home: Construction Cost Changes, June quarter 2020
Small Area Dwelling Completions, June quarter 2020
Telling storeys - Apartment building heights, December quarter 2019
Characteristics of new residential dwellings - A 15 year summary, December quarter 2019
Abandonment rates for new dwellings, June quarter 2019
Average dwelling commencement times, June quarter 2019
Average dwelling completion times, June quarter 2019
Revisions to building activity statistics, December quarter 2015
Average floor area of new residential dwellings, June quarter 2013
A twenty year history of the cost of building a new house, December quarter 2008
Additional Building and Construction feature articles can be found in Feature Articles by Catalogue Number
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 8752.0.
Post release changes
10/11/2021 - This additional information release contains a small area CSV file of experimental dwelling completions for the September 2016 quarter 2016 to the June 2021 quarter. Refer to the feature article, Small Area Dwelling Completions, for the methodology used.