February key figures
| Feb 20 | Jan 20 to Feb 20 | Feb 19 to Feb 20 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no. | % | % | ||
| TREND | ||||
| Total dwelling units approved | 14 823 | 1.0 | -2.5 | |
| Private sector houses | 8 633 | 0.6 | -3.8 | |
| Private sector dwellings excluding houses | 6 020 | 1.6 | -0.8 | |
| SEASONALLY ADJUSTED | ||||
| Total dwelling units approved | 15 698 | 19.9 | -5.8 | |
| Private sector houses | 8 577 | -0.8 | -4.9 | |
| Private sector dwellings excluding houses | 6 948 | 61.7 | -7.9 | |
February key points
Total dwellings units
- The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 1.0% in February.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved rose 19.9% in February.
Private sector houses
- The trend estimate for private sector houses approved rose 0.6% in February.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector houses fell 0.8% in February.
Private sector dwellings excluding houses
- The trend estimate for private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 1.6% in February.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 61.7% in February.
Value of building approved
- The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.6% in February and has risen for three months. The value of residential building rose 0.9% and has risen for six months. The value of non-residential building rose 0.1% and has risen for two months.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building approved rose 4.6% in February. The value of residential building rose 14.2%, while the value of non-residential building fell 6.1%.
Data notes
In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2018 to January 2020. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found in the feature article released with the January 2016 8731.0 publication - "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".
Small area data cubes and CSV files will be made available in an “Additional Information” release five business days after the main publication. These will be for Statistical Area Level 2 and Local Government Areas. Release dates are published under the “Forthcoming Issues” section of the publication and in ABS Release Advice.
A number of time series spreadsheets contain ‘np’ (not available for publication) annotations. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.
Bushfires and the coronavirus (COVID-19)
The recent bushfire events and COVID-19 did not result in significant impacts to Building Approval statistics in February 2020. Whilst it is expected that bushfire rebuilding and recovery activity will have some impact on future Building Approvals estimates, this activity is not yet present in the February estimates. The ABS is monitoring for potential impacts from COVID-19 on Building Approvals statistics.
Revisions this month
Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:
| Dwellings | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 157 | 112 |
| Vic. | -138 | 88 |
| Qld | 7 | 47 |
| SA | 6 | 34 |
| WA | - | 84 |
| Tas. | 3 | - |
| NT | - | - |
| ACT | - | 4 |
| Total | 35 | 369 |