Vic, NSW see approvals rise as national figures dip over February
Analysis of new ABS figures show the approvals for detached housing declined in February, keeping consistent with the trends that have progressed over the last year.
The Housing Industry Association’s chief economist Tim Reardon has said that the 3.7 per cent drop of detached housing approvals over February has remained consisted with HIA predictions that the current property downturn will be sharp and shallow, and despite the approval decline, building activity will be above the long-term average during the bottom of the current downturn.
Across the states and territories, approvals were strongest in Victoria, rising 37.3 per cent, followed by NSW at 25.2 per cent, South Australia at 6.8 per cent and then Queensland at 3.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the ACT, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania all recorded approval declines, falling 6.3 per cent, 6.5 per cent, 10.9 per cent and 13.6 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, multi-unit approvals jumped up 62.4 per cent due to low volume approvals in the second half of 2018 and high levels of approvals in Victoria and NSW, which rose 134.1 per cent and 69.5 per cent, respectively.
“Despite the surge in multi-units approvals, they remain 32.9 per cent lower than the same three month period last year,” Mr Reardon said.
“There remains a significant volume of multi-unit construction in the pipeline this year.”
The conditions of the second half of 2018, Mr Reardon added, was due to the condition of finance.
“The market cooled in the second half of 2018 on the back of the credit squeeze as dwelling prices corrected, adversely impacting market confidence,” he said.
“These results are an encouraging sign that this downturn will remain modest relative to historical comparisons.”
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