Dwelling Approvals Past Their Peak Says HIA

According to Australia's Housing Industry Association (HIA), the latest data shows there has been a sharp drop on the multi-unit side which has brought new dwelling approvals to a two-year low during October.

“New dwelling approvals fell by 12.6 per cent during the month of October, the third successive month of decline,” HIA Senior Economist Shane Garrett said.

“This result was largely due to a 23.5 per cent fall in multi-unit approvals during the month. Detached house approvals held up comparatively well, dipping by just 2.5 per cent in October.

“The NSW market saw a particularly large slice of the reduction in dwelling approvals during October. Today’s figures are consistent with the latest HIA New Homes Sales results released yesterday, which showed how the turnover of new dwellings in October fell to the lowest in over two years.

“Today’s ABS building approvals data are also consistent with HIA’s recent forecasts which foresee substantial reductions in new dwelling commencements during 2017 and 2018, particularly on the high-density side.

"Despite this, we anticipate that new dwelling starts will bottom out at a pretty respectable level of about 170,000 per year before starting to grow again,” Mr Garrett said.

In October 2016, the largest reduction in seasonally-adjusted dwelling approvals occurred in New South Wales (-15.7 per cent), followed by Western Australia (-14.3 per cent) and Queensland (-9.8 per cent).

During October, there were also falls in approvals in South Australia (-8.4 per cent), Tasmania (-3.2 per cent) and Victoria (-2.7 per cent). In trend terms, approvals were unchanged in the NT but grew by 4.6 per cent in the ACT.