“New dwelling approvals have strengthened in Australia’s population and economic hotspots,” explained Shane Garrett, HIA’s Senior Economist.
Building approvals data for March 2018 released by the ABS indicate that total new dwelling approvals grew by 2.6 per cent during the month and were 14.5 per cent higher than a year earlier.
“The areas with the strongest population growth are helping to sustain new home building approvals,” added Mr Garrett.
“Population growth is particularly strong in Victoria and Queensland because of their ability to generate lots of new jobs at the moment. These two states have accounted for the lion’s share of growth in building approvals over the past year.
“The improving prospects for new home building are benefitting both detached houses and apartments. Detached house approvals haven’t been this high since April 2015.
“The upshot of these figures is that new home building activity will remain elevated over the near term. Strong population growth and a strong economy go hand in hand,” concluded Shane Garrett.
Compared with a year earlier, the ACT (+23.5 per cent) saw the biggest increase in building approvals during the March 2018 quarter. The magnitude of growth was also strong in Victoria (+20.0 per cent) and Queensland (+15.2 per cent). Tasmania (+9.0 per cent) and South Australia (+8.1 per cent) saw more measured increases in approvals.
Over the same period, the largest reduction occurred in the Northern Territory (-23.4 per cent), followed by Western Australia (-18.2 per cent) and New South Wales (-2.7 per cent).
Source: HIA