Dwelling Approvals Rise In December: Australia

The total number of dwellings approved rose 0.7 per cent in December to 15,174, after a 3.4 per cent fall in November, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "The overall rise in December was driven by 15.2 per cent growth in private dwellings excluding houses. Approvals for private sector houses fell for the third straight month, down 3.0 per cent."

"In original terms, a total of 171,394 dwellings were approved across the 2024 calendar year. This was 4.7 per cent higher than the 163,722 dwellings approved in 2023."

New South Wales was the only state to see growth in private sector house approvals in December, with a 2.9 per cent rise.

The 3.0 per cent drop in private sector house approvals across Australia to 8,715 dwellings, follows a 1.7 per cent fall in November, to be 1.8 per cent lower than December 2023.

In original terms, 108,167 private sector houses were approved, across the 2024 calendar year. This was a 7.3% rise from 2023 where 100,769 private sector houses were approved.

Private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 15.2 per cent to 6,209 dwellings, after a 10.4 per cent fall in November. The rise in December was driven by large apartment approvals in New South Wales and Queensland, which pushed this category 42.7 per cent higher than one year ago.

In original terms, 59,312 private sector dwellings excluding houses were approved in the 2024 calendar year, compared with 60,116 in 2023, representing a 1.3 per cent fall.

(a) Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

In December, the value of total building approved grew 3.5 per cent to $14.94 billion, after a 6.6 per cent rise in November.

Total residential building value fell 0.9 per cent to $8.32 billion. This was made up of a 0.5 per cent drop in the value of new residential building approved ($7.22 billion), and a 3.7 per cent fall in alterations and additions ($1.11 billion).

The value of approved non-residential building rose 9.7 per cent to $6.61 billion, after a 17.8 per cent rise in November.

In original terms, across the 2024 calendar year $162.3 billion of building work was approved, compared with $160.3 billion in 2023, a 1.2 per cent rise.