Building Approvals fall to Thirteen-Month Low
Further evidence that the new home building cycle may have reached a ceiling is provided by today’s
building approvals data from the ABS, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of
Australia’s residential building industry.
Total dwelling approvals declined by 11.0 per cent in seasonally-adjusted terms during September, to
reach a thirteen-month low of just over 15,000.
Detached house approvals eased back by 3.0 per cent during the month, but remained 7.9 per cent
higher than twelve months earlier. Multi-unit dwelling activity was particularly weak during the month,
with a 21.5 per cent reduction occurring compared with the previous month and activity down by 34.2
per cent compared with the same period of 2013.
“Today’s figures provide further evidence that the national recovery in new home building is likely to
have passed its peak,” noted HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett.
“Monthly approvals reached over 17,000 earlier in the year. During September, we barely hit 15,000.”
“The reduction in new home building is probably an indication of the patchy state of the labour market,
as well as increased consumer woes post-federal Budget.”
“Recent HIA research shows an annual requirement for 180,000 dwellings to be built each year,”
explained Shane Garrett. “The fact that we seem to be drifting below this level of output again is a
worrying sign. During the early days of the housing upturn, HIA had been vocal in its calls for policy to
facilitate new housing supply to be delivered more readily.”
“Unfortunately, today’s data show that we are again moving in the wrong direction in terms of new
housing volumes. We need a more imaginative approach from policymakers, particularly around land
supply and the delivery of housing infrastructure,” concluded Shane Garrett.
During September 2014, seasonally-adjusted new dwelling approvals increased in Tasmania (+7.4 per
cent), South Australia (+2.9 per cent) and Western Australia (+2.1 per cent). Reductions in dwelling
approvals affected three states, including Victoria (-19.8 per cent), Queensland (-8.0 per cent) and NSW
(-7.0 per cent). In trend terms, new dwelling approvals increased in the ACT (+4.2 per cent) but declined
in the Northern Territory (-1.9 per cent).
Read more:
http://hia.com.au/IndustryPolicy/MediaCentre.aspx