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The ABS release of residential building approvals for November confirms the slide continues; although the rate of that decline has certainly slowed.
Seasonally adjusted data for Australia shows approvals were up 11.8% m/m and remain just 3.8% lower than a year ago, which is the best result since the middle of 2018. Our prefered Trend series showed a 0.8% increase for the month (the third consecutive monthly improvement and the first time we’ve seen that in two years) with the rate of decline for the year falling to 11.8% (also its slowest pace since mid-2018). The improvement at the national level is being driven by unit approvals which are now down just 10.7% for the year.
In Queensland the seasonally adjusted data showed a 1.0% increase m/m while the year of year decline was at 12.3%. The Trend series showed a 0.4% decline for the month with the year-on-year fall slowing to 10.1% (again, the best result since mid-2018). Unlike at the national level, the improvement in Queensland is being driven by house approvals which are now down just 4.8% y/y while units remain 20.5% below their level of a year ago.
Next week will see the ABS release their regional original approvals data at which point we will be updating the Conus Trend series for the Queensland SA4 regions.
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series