QLD Building Approvals grinding higher despite unit falls

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Pete Faulkner - Building Approvals, QLD, Uncategorized

The ABS data for residential building approvals for August shows that across the country approvals were up 0.4% m/m (seasonally adjusted) but remain down 15.4% y/y. The far less volatile Trend series shows approvals up 1.1% m/m and down 6.5% y/y (which is the slowest rate of decline this year).

In Queensland things look similar. Total approvals rose 13.2% m/m (seasonally adjusted) but remain down 9.6% y/y. The large monthly gain was driven by a 25.5% jump in unit approvals. The preferred Trend measure shows that over the course of the month approvals rose 1.0% with house approvals up 1.7% and units down 0.1%. For the year the Trend confirms that it’s house approvals that are driving the recovery in QLD; they are up 9.1% while unit approvals are down 21.4%.

Regional data will be released next Tuesday when we shall update our Conus Trend Approvals series for all QLD SA4 regions and the FNQ Local Councils.