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Given the declines we saw in residential building approvals at both the national and State level last week (see here for details) it should come as no surprise to see a similar pattern emerge in the North.
However, what today’s release by the ABS of more granular original regional data show us is that in Queensland the decline seen in September’s data was driven by falls in the regions (when seen through the lens of the Conus Trend series). While Greater Brisbane edged higher by 1.4% m/m the Rest of QLD fell by 1.5%. Nevertheless, over the year Greater Brisbane is up 12.2% while the Rest of Queensland is up 24.7%.
Despite the falls it is clear is that the elevated levels seen earlier in the year are flowing through into actual building starts across the State. Data released by the ABS today for the June quarter shows a strong upsurge in residential building starts to their highest level since the September quarter in 2016.
In the North of the State Cairns saw a 2.2% m/m decline and is now down 15% for the year while Townsville dropped by 5.8% m/m but remains up 0.8% for the year.
The Local Govt Area data sees Cairns Regional Council (incl Douglas Shire) at 70 approvals (down 14.6% y/y), the Cassowary Coast Regional Council at 9 (+30.6% y/y), Tablelands Regional Council (inlc Mareeba Shire) at 18 (-28.4% y/y) and Townsville City Council at 66 (down 11.2% y/y).
The complete Conus Trend data set for the QLD regions is available for download below. Please feel free to use this data but kindly acknowledge Conus when you do so.
Conus Regional Building Approvals Trend QLD – Sept 2021
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series