After last week’s release of slightly better than expected building approvals data at the state and national levels (see here) today saw the release of the regional data. As always the ABS regional data is presented in its original form without any seasonal adjustment so we need to consider the Conus Trend series to get clear pictures.
In Cairns (including Douglas Shire) the raw data showed a total of 68 approvals. The Conus Trend fell to 58 (from 61 in June which was in turn revised down from 63). This is a drop of 8.0% in the Trend from the same time a year ago.
Townsville continued its slide with the original data showing just 83 approvals. The Conus Trend sits at 101 (while June was revised down from 107 to 100). This represents a decline of 29.4% in the Trend since July last year.
The only positive from the region was in the Cassowary Coast. Here the raw data showed approvals of 11 while the Trend increased to 10 (from an unrevised 9 in June). The Trend now sits 25.0% above where it was a year ago (albeit from a very low base). Approvals in the Cassowary Coast were concentrated in the Tully SA2 area (which includes Mission Beach and Cardwell as well as Tully) as they have been for the past year; 9 of the 11 approvals in the CCRC came from this area. The other 2 were from Johnstone.