The building approvals seesaw has tipped back in favour of apartments, which greatly outnumbered house approvals in February.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week shows that a rise in building approvals for apartments and townhouses has driven a 0.4 per cent increase in the total number of dwellings approved over the month.
Approvals for dwellings 'excluding houses' rose 2.6 per cent in trend terms, while houses fell a further 0.8 per cent.
Around the country, total dwelling approvals rose in February in New South Wales (3.1 per cent) and Western Australia (2.0 per cent). Falls were recorded in the Northern Territory (6.5 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (6.3 per cent), Queensland (2.0 per cent), South Australia (1.1 per cent) and Victoria (0.8 per cent). Tasmania recorded no change.
In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings rose by 19.1 per cent in February, largely driven by rises in Victoria (37.3 per cent) and New South Wales (25.2 per cent). Private dwellings excluding houses rose 64.6 per cent, while private houses decreased by 3.6 per cent.
The value of residential building
increased 0.8 per cent in February, in trend terms. The seasonally-adjusted figure rose a whopping 24.7 per cent.
