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
March 2024
Released
17/07/2024

Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms:

  • Total dwelling commencements rose 0.5% to 39,715 dwellings.
  • New private sector house commencements rose 4.8% to 25,072 dwellings.
  • New private sector other residential commencements fell 3.1% to 14,071 dwellings.
  • The value of total building work done fell 3.5% to $33.4b.

Number of dwellings commenced

Number of dwellings commenced, seasonally adjusted
 Mar qtr 24
no.
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses25,0724.8-6.7
New private sector other residential14,071-3.1-21.5
Total sector total dwellings39,7150.5-13.5
Number of dwellings commenced, trend
 Mar qtr 24
no.
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses24,4252.1-7.9
New private sector other residential14,030-0.9-9.8
Total sector total dwellings39,2260.7-9.0

The total number of dwellings commenced in Australia rose 0.5% to 39,715 dwellings in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. New private sector houses drove the increase, rising 4.8% to 25,072 dwellings but have fallen 6.7% since March 2023. New private sector other residential commencements fell 3.1% to 14,071 dwellings, following a rise of 3.3% in the December quarter and are down 21.5% through the year.

There were 226,307 total sector dwellings under construction in the March quarter of which 90,369 were new houses.

Number of dwellings completed

Number of dwellings completed, seasonally adjusted
 Mar qtr 24
no.
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses25,351-16.9-8.8
New private sector other residential15,20611.2-8.2
Total sector total dwellings41,329-9.5-8.1
Number of dwellings completed, trend
 Mar qtr 24
no.
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New private sector houses30,9923.714.6
New private sector other residential14,8445.6-4.1
Total sector total dwellings46,8644.07.9

In trend terms, 46,864 dwellings completed in the March quarter. Private new houses accounted for 30,992 dwellings, rising 3.7% from December and an increase of 14.6% since March 2023. Private new other residential completions rose 5.6% from December to 14,844 dwellings.

Value of work done

Value of work done, seasonally adjusted chain volume measures (a)
 Mar qtr 24
$m
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New residential building16,927.9-0.8-1.2
Alterations and additions to residential building2,708.2-2.6-9.9
Non-residential building13,750.5-6.8-0.9
Total value of work done33,386.6-3.5-1.8
Value of work done, trend chain volume measures (a)
 Mar qtr 24
$m
Dec qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
Mar qtr 23 to Mar qtr 24
% change
New residential building16,936.0-1.7-2.3
Alterations and additions to residential building2,732.6-2.9-7.7
Non-residential building14,138.8-0.43.3
Total value of work done33,803.3-1.3-0.6

(a) Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2021-2022

The value of total building work done fell 3.5% to $33.4b in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The decrease was driven by non-residential building, which decreased by 6.8% to $13.8b and follows an increase of 6.7% in the December quarter. Work done on new residential building fell 0.8% to $16.9b and is 1.2% lower for the year. Work done on alterations and additions to residential buildings fell 2.6% to $2.7b.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

File contents

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

Building Activity by state - value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline.

About this issue

This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia. The data in this publication are based on a response rate of approximately 85% of the value of building work done during the quarter, which is lower than the long term response rate average. The data are subject to revision when returns from the following quarter are processed. Final data for the March 2024 quarter will be released in the next release of this publication, Building Activity, Australia on 09 October 2024.

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.

Enquiries

For enquiries 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

Article archive

The following data cubes provide additional insights into Building Activity and are updated annually. Refer to the Data Downloads section of the relevant Building Activity release.

June quarter:

  • Building Activity Average Dwelling Commencement Times
  • Building Activity Average Dwelling Completion times
  • Building Activity Abandonment Rates for New Dwellings

December quarter:

  • Building Activity Average Cost
  • Building Activity Average Floor Area

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8752.0.

Methodology

Scope

Building activity in Australia on approved work greater than $10,000, including: 

  • new building construction
  • alterations and additions to existing buildings
  • non-structural renovation and refurbishment
  • installation of integral building fixtures

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • select series at Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA).

Source

Building Activity Survey.

The survey sample is selected from approved building jobs notified to the ABS Building Approvals, Australia collection.

Collection method

Survey responses from builders and other individuals and organisations engaged in building activity, compiled from:

  • online forms
  • paper forms
  • telephone calls
  • approval information

Concepts, sources and methods

Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.

History of changes

  • Trend series were reinstated in the September 2022 release.
  • Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated in the September 2022 release.
View full methodology
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