Building approvals fall after rebound
Building approvals have dropped after the November ‘rebound’, according to newly released statistics.
Total dwelling approvals saw a drop of one per cent over the December 2011 month following a sharp 10.1 per cent rise in November 2011, found the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The biggest decrease was seen in Victoria (16.7 per cent), with further drops in South Australia (9.1 per cent) and New South Wales (5.0 per cent).
An increase of almost 25 per cent was seen in Queensland (24.6 per cent) while Tasmania and Western Australia also saw jumps in approvals, at 15.6 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively.
However, the estimate of the value of total buildings approved rose by almost 2 per cent in December, after a fall of 0.5 per cent in November.
Approvals for private sector houses saw a 0.2 per cent increase overall, with the biggest rise in Western Australia, 6.3 per cent. New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria all fell.
The value of residential building increased by 1.0 per cent, while non-residential outperformed with a 3.3 per cent growth.
This total increase of 1.9 per cent in December of the value of total building approved followed a decrease in value of 0.5 per cent in November 2011.