Total Dwelling Approvals Fall 6.1% In August: Australia

The total number of dwellings approved fell 6.1 per cent in August to 16,953, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said, “Approvals for private dwellings excluding houses fell by 21.2 per cent in August, after a 0.8 per cent rise in July.”

“Private sector house approvals rose 3.7 per cent to 10,885 dwellings in August, following a 1.9 per cent fall in July.”

Over 10,000 private sector houses approved for eighth month in a row

Private sector house approvals rose 3.7 per cent, to 10,885 dwellings, to be 18.4 per cent higher than a year ago.

“This marked the eight month in a row with more than 10,000 private sector houses approved across Australia,” said Mr Rossi.

South Australia recorded the largest rise in private sector house approvals, up 27.7 per cent, following a 12.8 per cent fall in July. Western Australia rose 8.6 per cent, after a 1.8 per cent July rise.

Meanwhile, New South Wales had the only fall in private sector house approvals, falling 4.5 per cent.

Lower apartment approvals drive fall in dwellings excluding houses

Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 21.2 per cent, to 5,674 dwellings, to be 2.1 per cent lower than August 2025.

In original terms, apartment approvals fell 24.9 per cent to 3,268 dwellings. This is 19.8 per cent lower than the average from the past twelve months (4,074 dwellings).

“Queensland led the fall in apartment approvals in August,” Mr Rossi said. “Queensland saw 337 apartments approved this month compared with 1,330 in July.”

Approvals for townhouses were also down, falling 20.7 per cent to 2,546 dwellings in original terms, after a 10.3 per cent rise last month. The August result is 11.3 per cent lower than the average over the past twelve months (2,869 dwellings).

(a) Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

Non-residential approvals fall in August

The value of total building approved fell 21.3 per cent to $16.82 billion, driven by a fall in non-residential approvals.

Approved non-residential building fell 44.8 per cent (to $5.53 billion). This follows a 15.7 per cent rise in July, which had the second highest non-residential recorded value of all time.

Meanwhile, the value of total residential building value fell 0.6 per cent (to $11.30 billion), comprised of a 0.5 per cent fall in new residential building (to $10.02 billion) and a 2.1 per cent drop in alterations and additions (to $1.28 billion).