Building Approvals on the Up

05 Nov 2012 - Staff Reporter from http://www.rebonline.com.au/

 At last there is some positive news coming out of the Australian economy, with new data showing a slight improvement in building approvals.

According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, building approvals increased 7.8 per cent in September – marking the second consecutive monthly increase.

Moreover, the result took the number of approvals to 13,388, the third highest monthly result in over twelve months.

"It is pleasing to see approvals moving in the right direction, but the improvements are occurring from a historically low starting point. The volume of approvals in the last three months implies a rate of around 140,000 new home completions per annum, which is a low level relative to the housing requirements of Australia's population,” HIA economist Geordan Murray said.

"We have to start somewhere and if an upward trend in building approvals can be sustained through the remainder of 2012 then we have made that start. We do, however, need to see greater traction in the detached house market and a broader geographical recovery.

“Geographically, the improvements in September were narrowly based - only the east coast states posted improved approval numbers.

“New South Wales was the stand out performer where it seems the state government’s combination of stamp duty concessions and grants may be having an effect. From a relatively low base in August, total approvals in NSW were up by 22.8 per cent in September. Underpinning this result was a 48.0 per cent increase in the multi-unit segment, meanwhile approvals for detached dwellings improved by a modest 1.4 per cent.”

In September 2012 total seasonally adjusted building approvals increased by 22.8 per cent in New South Wales, 5.2 per cent in Victoria, and 2.6 per cent in Queensland.

Building approvals fell by 1.4 per cent in South Australia, 2.4 per cent in Western Australia, and 9.6 per cent in Tasmania.