Australia’s dwelling approvals dropped 7.2% in January as apartment and townhouse approvals plummeted, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.
A total of 14,564 dwellings were approved in January, with the decline falling far short of Westpac analysts’ expected 5% increase. Approvals also fell by 14.9% in December.
“The drop in total dwellings approved was driven by a 24.5 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses,” said ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi.
“This is the second consecutive fall in private dwellings excluding houses, following a 30.7 per cent drop in December.”
House approvals increased by 1.1% to 9,753. This was led by Western Australia, where approvals surged by 11.5%, while South Australia reported the largest decrease at 8.9%.
Apartment approvals fell by almost half to 1,819, down 60.1% year-over-year. Townhouse approvals dropped 39.2% to 1,684, 11% lower than January 2025.
The decline in apartment and townhouse approvals is partly due to seasonal factors as workers take holidays or annual leave, according to Rossi.
The value of approved buildings was up 7.3% in January to A$17.71 billion, compared with an 11.4% drop in December. This was driven by a 19.1% surge in the value of approved non-residential buildings, as residential values sank 1.2%.
Overall capital city home values rose 0.6% in February, per a separate Cotality report yesterday. This is a slight decrease in growth from the 0.7% rise seen in January.
