Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
January 2024
Released
4/03/2024
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Key statistics

The January 2024 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 1.0%, to 12,850.
  • Private sector houses fell 9.9%, to 7,461, while private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 19.5%, to 5,238.
  • The value of new residential building rose 19.4%, to $7.14b.
  • The value of non-residential building rose 12.4%, to $4.92b.

     

Dwellings approved

January key figures
 Jan 24 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved12,850-1.04.8
 Private sector houses7,461-9.9-4.7
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,23819.522.6
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved13,225-1.3-6.0
 Private sector houses8,026-2.1-5.0
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,993-0.2-6.1
  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 1.0%, after a 10.1% December fall.

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 1.3%, following a 1.2% December decrease.

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

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals fell 9.9%, following a 1.8% decline in December. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approved rose 19.5%, following a 24.9% December decrease. 

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals fell 2.1%, following a 1.8% decrease in December. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 0.2%, following a flat result in December.

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed. Falls were recorded in New South Wales (-14.9%), Victoria (-9.8%), and South Australia (-7.2%). Meanwhile, rises were recorded in Queensland (31.8%), Western Australia (11.4%), and Tasmania (5.1%).

Approvals for private sector houses fell in all states: Victoria (-16.7%), New South Wales (-13.1%), Western Australia (-7.3%), Queensland (-1.7%), and South Australia (-0.4%), 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 Wales1,505-13.12,875-14.9
Victoria2,363-16.73,651-9.8
Queensland1,581-1.73,56031.8
South Australia701-0.4789-7.2
Western Australia1,035-7.31,49011.4
Tasmanianana1875.1
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia7,461-9.912,850-1.0

Trend summary, by state

The number of dwellings approved fell in Tasmania (-7.1%), Northern Territory (-6.5%), Victoria (-3.5%), New South Wales (-3.4%), Australian Capital Territory (-3.1%), and South Australia (-3.0%). Western Australia (3.4%) and Queensland (3.3%) increased in January.

Approvals for private sector houses fell in all states: New South Wales (-3.6%), Queensland (-2.6%), Victoria (-1.8%), South Australia (-1.1%), and Western Australia (-0.5%), 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 Wales1,651-3.63,173-3.4
Victoria2,655-1.84,129-3.5
Queensland1,622-2.63,0563.3
South Australia721-1.1847-3.0
Western Australia1,098-0.51,4003.4
Tasmanianana182-7.1
Northern Territorynana29-6.5
Australian Capital Territorynana408-3.1
Australia8,026-2.113,225-1.3

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 rose 14.7% in January, following a 6.7% December decrease. The value of total residential building rose 16.1%, comprised of a 19.4% increase in the value of new residential building and a 3.1% fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building rose 12.4%, after a 10.8% fall in December. 

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate for the value of total building approved fell 3.1%, after a 2.5% December decrease. The value of total residential building fell 1.2%, comprised of a 1.2% fall in new residential building and a 1.3% fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building fell 5.7%, following a 4.8% decrease in December.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building7,13919.45,972-1.2
Alterations and additions to residential building981-3.11,006-1.3
Total residential building8,12016.16,978-1.2
Non-residential building4,91812.44,670-5.7
Total building13,03814.711,648-3.1

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

Data files
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Demolitions

Data files

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

    Download xlsx [52.5 KB]

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

    Download xlsx [57.42 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

Data files
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SA

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WA

Data files
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Tas.

Data files
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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 (.csv)

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 2022) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2022/23

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

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2020 to December 2023. 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
 2020-222022-232023-24
New South Wales103-437
Victoria2201422
Queensland-944787
South Australia-120-18-11
Western Australia-61349
Tasmania155-
Northern Territory---
Australian Capital Territory-3624
Total2749188

Post release changes

04/03/2024 - Key figures table for January 2024 added.

12/03/2024 - 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 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years along with CSV files for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years. 
 

 

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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