Stronger New Dwelling Approvals For October

ABS figures released today show that building approvals increased by 3.9 per cent in October, the second consecutive month of growth, said the Housing Industry Association.

During October, a total seasonally adjusted new-dwelling approvals rise to 19,652, the strongest monthly result since the all-time high record reached in July. The distribution of the growth was mixed, however; while multi-unit approvals increased by 10.1 per cent during October, detached house approvals fell by 2.1 per cent during the month. The back-to-back increases in approvals during September and October were the first consecutive monthly increases since the beginning of the year.

"The strength of new home building has been the big economic story of 2015 in Australia," said HIA Senior Economist Shane Garrett.

"Residential building is making a crucial contribution to economic growth, at a time when other areas of investment are quite weak.

"The performance of new home building is commendable given that the taxation burden on the sector is so high," Mr Garrett said. "The challenge of consistently delivering a pipeline of affordable new housing stock is made much more difficult by taxation and other supply hurdles.

"Latest HIA projections indicate that new home building is likely to have peaked in 2014/15, and has started to decline from these record levels. In this context, it is vital that more favourable policy settings are implemented to allow for an orderly adjustment in activity."During October 2015, total seasonally adjusted new home building approvals saw the largest increase in South Australia, followed by New South Wales and Victoria. Approvals fell in Tasmania, Queensland and Western Australia. In trend terms, approvals saw a 7.1 per cent increase in the NT but declined by 10.8 per cent in the Australia Capital Territory.