Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
July 2024
Released
2/09/2024
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Key statistics

The July 2024 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved rose 10.4%, to 14,797.
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 32.1%, to 5,234, while private sector houses rose 0.6%, to 9,252.
  • The value of total residential building rose 9.0%, to $8.49b.
  • The value of non-residential building rose 3.2%, to $4.69b.

Dwellings approved

July key figures
 Jul 24 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved14,79710.414.3
 Private sector houses9,2520.613.1
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,23432.115.9
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved14,3192.12.4
 Private sector houses9,3451.211.9
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,7223.9-11.7
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved rose 10.4%, after decreasing 6.4% in June. 

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved rose 2.1%, following a 2.1% June increase.

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

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.6%, after rising 0.3% in June. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approved rose 32.1%, following a 20.2% June fall.

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 1.2%, following a 1.2% increase in June. Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 3.9%, after a 3.9% June increase.

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings rose in New South Wales (25.2%), Victoria (20.1%), South Australia (9.9%), Tasmania (8.0%), and Western Australia (1.9%). Queensland was the only state to fall (-5.0%) in seasonally adjusted terms.

Approvals for private sector houses were mixed. New South Wales (8.5%), South Australia (4.8%), and Western Australia (4.7%) rose. However, Queensland (-5.2%) and Victoria (-1.7%) 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 Wales1,7408.53,79125.2
Victoria2,873-1.74,69120.1
Queensland2,097-5.23,063-5.0
South Australia8254.81,1459.9
Western Australia1,4794.71,7951.9
Tasmanianana2028.0
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,2520.614,79710.4

Trend summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings rose in Queensland (3.8%), South Australia (3.8%), Western Australia (2.9%), Victoria (2.4%), and New South Wales (0.5%), while the Northern Territory was flat. The trend estimate fell in the Australian Capital Territory (-13.9%) and Tasmania (-0.5%).

Approvals for private sector houses rose in Queensland (3.5%), South Australia (2.1%), Western Australia (2.1%), and Victoria (0.8%), while New South Wales (-1.3%) 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 Wales1,761-1.33,5630.5
Victoria2,9310.84,4122.4
Queensland2,1203.53,0453.8
South Australia7912.11,1063.8
Western Australia1,4892.11,8172.9
Tasmanianana191-0.5
Northern Territorynana390.0
Australian Capital Territorynana149-13.9
Australia9,3451.214,3192.1

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 6.8% (to $13.18b), following a 6.2% fall in June. The value of total residential building rose 9.0% (to $8.49b), comprised of an 11.8% increase in new residential building and a 6.8% fall in alterations and additions.

The value of non-residential building rose 3.2%, after a 15.1% June decrease.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 0.8%, following a 1.0% rise in June. The value of total residential building rose 2.5%, comprised of a 2.8% increase in new residential building and a 0.7% rise in alterations and additions. 

The value of non-residential building fell 2.0%, following a 1.5% June decrease.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building7,37911.87,0422.8
Alterations and additions to residential building1,113-6.81,1490.7
Total residential building8,4929.08,1912.5
Non-residential building4,6883.24,907-2.0
Total building13,1806.813,0980.8

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 data cubes

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 June 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
  2023-24
New South Wales-69
Victoria49
Queensland144
South Australia5
Western Australia-3
Tasmania4
Northern Territory72
Australian Capital Territory-
Total202

Post release changes

09/09/2024 - 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