The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data has recorded a growth in the number of building approval in January, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said.
HIA Senior Economist Shane Garrett said the total dwelling approvals rose by 1.8 percent in January due to robust activity recorded on the multiunit side and resulting in a 6.6 percent expansion in multi-unit dwelling approvals while detached house approvals fell by 2.2 percent during the month.
“New dwelling approvals have been falling back over the past year, particularly due to a reduced inflow of new multi-unit projects,” Garrett said.
“With new dwelling approvals falling back from record highs during 2016, new home commencements are set to decline during 2017. ”
The latest HIA forecasts released on Thursday indicate that new dwelling was to contract by 11.8 percent this year and by 13.4 percent next year due to weaker activity on the multi-unit side.
“Even so, new housing starts are likely to bottom out at around 174,000 per year – still a significant amount of activity by almost any standard,” he said.
New South Wales experience the largest number of new building approvals at 24 percent, followed by Tasmania (+6.6 percent), South Australia (+6.5 percent) and Western Australia (+3.5 percent).
Meanwhile, Queensland had the biggest fall at -11.9 percent followed by Victoria (-5.3 percent).
In trend terms, approvals in the Northern Territory experienced a 2.2 percent decline with a reduction of 19.3 percent in the Australian Capital Territory.
