Dwelling approvals fall across all resi building types

The latest Building Approval figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have revealed that the total number of dwellings approved declined by 3.6 per cent in November to 14,998 after a 5.2 per cent rise in October (seasonally adjusted).

According to the head of construction statistics at the ABS, Daniel Rossi, the fall in dwellings approved over the month was “across all residential building types”, with approvals for private sector houses falling 1.7 per cent and private dwellings excluding houses dropping 10.8 per cent.

However, approvals for total dwellings remained 3.2 per cent higher than November 2023 despite the month-to-month fall, Rossi added.

Furthermore, the value of total buildings approved (seasonally adjusted) rose to 6.6 per cent to $14.32 billion following a fall of 2.3 per cent in October, largely driven by an increase in value of non-residential buildings of 18.4 per cent (to $5.96 billion) after an 11.2 per cent decrease in October.

This was slightly offset by the value of total residential buildings dropping by 0.5 per cent to $8.36 billion, which was comprised of a 0.6 per cent decrease in new resi buildings (down to $7.21 billion) and a 0.3 per cent rise in alterations and additions (valued at $1.15 billion).

Commenting on the data, Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) senior economist, Matt King, said the building approvals data has revealed the “ongoing strengthening in the new home building market and continue[s] to point to a moderate-pace recovery in 2025”.

“Following a period of prolonged weakness, there are signs of life again in building approvals, which is pointing to a nascent recovery in new home building,” King said.

“November 2024 marked exactly one year since the RBA last raised interest rates. Unchanged interest rate settings have provided a welcomed degree of certainty for consumers.

“Population growth rates have slowed across the country but remain elevated which is contributing to strong underlying demand for housing. Detached house approvals continue to rebound off a very low base, further confirming that the trough of the cycle is now in the rear-view mirror.”

King added that a national recovery in home building “is in sight”.

“At the national level, market confidence is returning as the majority of capital city and regional markets now appear to have moved through the trough in new home building activity,” King concluded.

“Nevertheless, the size of the upswing in new home building activity will be heavily influenced by Federal and State Government housing policy settings.

“Policy makers must double-down on the pursuit of efficiencies and improvement in industry red tape, the excessive taxation of home build, the availability of land for residential development, and the supply of skilled labour.”

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Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

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