The total number of approved homes increased by 6.3 per cent in January to reach 16,579, following a 1.7 per cent rise in December, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australia must build over 20,000 homes each month to reach our target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
Approvals for private dwellings excluding houses (which includes townhouses and apartments) rose 12.7 per cent to 7,213. The result is 41.6 per cent higher than one year ago, driven by large apartment buildings in New South Wales.
Meanwhile, approvals for single-family homes rose by 1.1 per cent in January.
Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said it was pleasing to see approval numbers rise in January.
"We need to see increases like this month on month to arrest our housing crisis," Mr Kandelaars said.
"It's great to see approvals for apartments and townhouses reaching their highest levels since December 2022, but they are still too low.
"We are approving thousands of fewer apartments now than a decade ago. Regulations, opportunistic taxes and low productivity are hurting our ability to build the homes Australians need.
"Apartments take nearly three years from approval to completion and face many hurdles from high construction costs, labour shortages and tax policies that deter investment and put project feasibility under pressure.
"With a bold target of 1.2 million new homes, there's still much work ahead, and hopefully, we see approval numbers continue to increase," he said.
