Home approvals staged a substantial turnaround in July after a hefty fall the previous month but are still well down on the average.
According to data from the Australian of Statistics (ABS), approvals for the month rose 10 per cent in July for a total of 14,797.
It followed a 6.4 per cent decrease in June.
ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said approvals for private homes excluding houses (semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses and apartments) rose 32.1 per cent after the low June result.
“Private sector house approvals also rose by 0.6 per cent,” he said.
“Despite the bounce in July, total dwellings approved remain 5.1 per cent lower than the five-year average.”
Private sector house approvals rose 0.6 per cent (to 9252 homes), driven by an 8.5 per cent rise in NSW in July.
Approvals across other states were mixed. Queensland and Victoria fell after both states rose in June, while South Australia and Western Australia continued to track upwards.
Private house approvals in Western Australia reached the highest level since July 2021 in seasonally adjusted terms.
Private sector homes approved in the month totalled 5234 homes and were 15.9 per cent higher than a year ago. The bounce followed a low June result of 3963 approvals.
The result in July was driven by an increase in approvals for high-density apartments.
There were 2504 apartments approved in nine or more storey blocks in July, in original terms, compared to 533 in June.
The value of total building approved rose 6.8 per cent to $13.18 billion after a 6.2 per cent fall in June.
Total residential building rose 9.0 per cent to $8.49 billion. According to the ABS, the primary driver of the rise was the value of new residential buildings approved, which rose 11.8 per cent to $7.38 billion.
Alterations and additions fell 6.8 per cent to $1.11 billion after an all-time high of $1.19 billion in June, in seasonally adjusted terms.
The value of approved non-residential building rose 3.2 per cent to $4.69 billion after a 15.1 per cent decrease in June.
