Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
August 2024
Released
1/10/2024
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Key statistics

The August 2024 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 6.1%, to 13,991.
  • Private sector houses rose 0.5%, to 9,338, while private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 16.5%, to 4,418.
  • The value of total residential building fell 6.7%, to $7.96b.
  • The value of non-residential building rose 11.5%, to $5.30b.

Dwellings approved

August key figures
 Aug 24 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved13,991-6.13.6
 Private sector houses9,3380.58.4
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,418-16.5-6.1
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved14,3080.61.9
 Private sector houses9,3240.010.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,7361.8-11.0
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved fell 6.1%, after rising 11.0% in July. 

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 0.6%, following a 1.4% July increase.

  1. Trend break added to 'Private sector houses' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.5%, after rising 0.9% in July. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approved fell 16.5%, following a 33.0% July increase.

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals was flat, after a 0.9% rise in July. Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 1.8%, following a 2.5% increase in July.
 

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings fell in all states: New South Wales (-11.5%), South Australia (-11.5%), Tasmania (-4.4%), Queensland (-3.9%), Western Australia (-3.3%), and Victoria (-3.0%)

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed. New South Wales (3.9%), Western Australia (1.9%), and Victoria (1.4%) rose. However, South Australia (-4.0%) and Queensland (-3.9%) decreased, in seasonally adjusted terms.

 

Dwellings approved, states and territories, seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,8293.93,387-11.5
Victoria2,9291.44,589-3.0
Queensland1,999-3.92,944-3.9
South Australia792-4.01,015-11.5
Western Australia1,5221.91,747-3.3
Tasmanianana197-4.4
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,3380.513,991-6.1

Trend summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings rose in Queensland (2.7%), Victoria (1.5%), South Australia (0.9%), Western Australia (0.6%), and Tasmania (0.5%). The trend estimate fell in the Australian Capital Territory (-24.6%), the Northern Territory (-2.7%), and New South Wales (-1.4%).

Approvals for private sector houses rose in South Australia (1.4%), Queensland (1.3%), and Western Australia (0.9%), while New South Wales (-1.7%) and Victoria (-0.7%) fell, in trend terms.
 

Dwellings approved, states and territories, trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,756-1.73,460-1.4
Victoria2,902-0.74,5351.5
Queensland2,0971.33,0992.7
South Australia8011.41,0850.9
Western Australia1,5100.91,8030.6
Tasmanianana1950.5
Northern Territorynana36-2.7
Australian Capital Territorynana98-24.6
Australia9,3240.014,3080.6

Value of building approved

  1. Trend break added to 'Total residential' trend series for September 2020 and February 2021.

Value of building approved, seasonally adjusted

The value of total building approved fell 0.2% (to $13.25b), following a 6.9% rise in July. The value of total residential building fell 6.7% (to $7.96b), comprised of a 7.9% decrease in new residential building and a 1.4% rise in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building rose 11.5%, after a 2.8% July increase.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.4%, following a 0.8% rise in July. The value of total residential building rose 1.0%, comprised of a 1.1% increase in new residential building and a 0.3% rise in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building fell 0.4%, following a 0.9% July decrease.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building6,813-7.97,0301.1
Alterations and additions to residential building1,1431.41,1520.3
Total residential building7,956-6.78,1821.0
Non-residential building5,29811.55,030-0.4
Total building13,255-0.213,2110.4

Data downloads

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Dwellings approved

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Value of building approved

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Non-residential building approved

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Chain volume measures

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Demolitions

Data files

  • Table 87. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, original, states and territories

    Download xlsx [52.77 KB]

  • Table 88. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, by Greater Capital City Statistical Area - original

    Download xlsx [57.85 KB]

Small area datacubes

Data items

Building Approvals: Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Data files
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NSW

Data files
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Vic.

Data files
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Qld

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SA

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WA

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Tas.

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NT

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ACT

Data files

Validation table

Building Approvals: Data cube validation table

Data files
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Small area approvals (.csv)

Statistical Area Level 2

Data files

Local Government Area

Data files

Demolition approvals

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 time period when using Data Explorer.

Help for: Data Explorer Datasets

Building Approvals by Greater Capital Cities Statistical Area (GCCSA) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2001 onwards

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2016 - June 2021

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2021 onwards

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2023) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2023/24

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2024) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2024/25

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2023 to July 2024. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found in the feature article released with the with the January 2016 Building Approvals publication - "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".

Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:

Dwellings revised
  2023-242024-25
New South Wales331
Victoria8539
Queensland1920
South Australia2-
Western Australia3-
Tasmania22
Northern Territory--
Australian Capital Territory--
Total14462

Post release changes

09/10/2024 - As advertised in the ABS future releases calendar, this additional information release contains all Building Approvals small area data components. This is comprised of the small area excel data cubes, csv files and additional Data Explorer links for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years. 

Article archive

Previous feature articles

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8731.0.

Methodology

Scope

Approvals included:

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

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
  • Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
  • Local Government Areas.

Source

Administrative data collection from local government or other approving authorities.

Collection method

Statistics of building work approved are compiled from:

  • local government authorities and other principal certifying authorities
  • contracts authorised by government authorities
  • media reports and the Building Activity Survey.

Concepts, sources and methods

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

History of changes

Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated from the May 2022 release.

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Media releases