Building Approvals improve but not in Queensland

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Pete Faulkner - Uncategorized

ABS data for residential building approvals in Dec show a 2.1% improvement for the month (Trend) which equates to a 5.9% decline for the year. This is the fourth consecutive month of monthly improvements and sees growth at its fastest pace in more than 2 years. The more volatile seasonally adjusted data showed a 0.2% m/m decline but a 2.7% y/y improvement.

Across the nation the improvement has come from a turn-around in unit approvals which are now up 0.3% y/y having seen sharp falls earlier in the year. House approvals remain 9.8% below their level of a year ago.

In Queensland there is a quite different story to tell. Trend approvals are down 1.3% for the month and remain 7.7% lower than a year earlier. In the Sunshine State house approvals have almost stabilised (down 0.9% y/y) while it’s a continued sharp fall in unit approvals (down 22.2% y/y) that is behind the lack-lustre performance.

Next week will see the ABS release their original regional data at which time we shall be updating our Conus Regional Trend series for Queensland.