The Building Approvals slide accelerates

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Pete Faulkner - Building Approvals, QLD, Uncategorized

Today’s release from the ABS of residential Building Approvals data for October shows the slide, both at national and state level, continues at a slightly faster pace.

Residential Building Approvals across Australia fell by 1.5% m/m for a 13.4% y/y decline (seasonally adjusted), this after a revised 12.8% y/y decline in September. The less volatile Trend series showed a 1.1% m/m drop for a 13.9% y/y fall after Sept was revised to a 12.5% y/y drop. House approvals are down 5.7% y/y while units have fallen 22.8%.

It’s a similar story in Queensland where the seasonally adjusted data shows a 1.1% m/m decline and a fall of 13.3% for the year. The Trend series (much preferred at the state level) shows drops of 2.9% m/m and 12.0% y/y, after September’s decline was revised to 8.9%. In Queensland the declines in both houses and unit approvals are running at similar levels; houses are down 12.0% y/y while units have fallen 14.5%.

Next week will see the release of the regional approvals data at which time we will be updating our Conus Trend Regional Building Approvals data set.