Australian dwelling approvals rose 1.8% in September (latest ABS figures)
The most recent ABS figures show strong growth in a majority of states and a 1.3% growth in the value of dwellings approved.
According to the latest dwelling approvals data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, September saw a 1.8% rise in approvals. This marks an eight-month stretch of rises.
Private sector house approvals grew 0.7%, while private sector dwellings excluding houses grew 3.2%.
In trend terms, growth by state was as follows:
- ACT: 7.9%
- Northern Territory: 6.5%
- Tasmania: 4.5%
- New South Wales: 3.4%
- Western Australia: 2.0%
- South Australia: 1.5%
- Victoria: 0.7%
Dwelling approvals fell in Queensland:
- Queensland: 0.5%
In terms of the value of building approvals, September marked an overall rise of 1.3% and nine months of rises.
Bill Becker, Assistant Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS, said, "The value of non-residential building approvals have risen for the past eight months, in trend terms, reaching a record high in September 2017."
The rise in value can be broken down as follows:
- Residential building value is up 1.5%
- Non-residential building value is up 1.0%
Becker further stated that Victoria has driven the growth in non-residential building approval due to the high number of education and office buildings approved in the state recently.
The solid growth in approvals is a good sign for the property market and may bolster the theory that recent price drops in Sydney properties are only a temporary dip. The value of housing finance has also seen rises in recent months.
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