Australian dwelling approvals rose 29.7% in February as approvals for apartments resurged.
During February, 19,022 dwellings were approved, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.
“The rise in total dwellings approved was driven by a 101.2 per cent rise in private dwellings excluding houses,” said ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi.
“This follows a 25.0 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses in January and a 29.7 per cent fall in December.”
Apartment approvals were up 191.2% to 5,398 dwellings during the month, a 29.8% rise year-over-year. Approvals for apartments had dropped by almost half in January, which Rossi credited to seasonal factors at the time.
Townhouse approvals soared 73.8% to 2,981, also rebounding from a 38.7% drop in January.
House approvals grew by 0.2% to 9,847, slowing from the 1.1% increase seen in January. This is a 6.1% rise year-over-year, however.
New South Wales posted the largest growth in house approvals, up 13.7%, while Queensland recorded the largest drop at 13.4%.
The value of total buildings approved rose 14.4% to A$20.43 billion during February, accelerating from January’s 7.8% increase. Approved residential buildings’ value climbed 30.8% to a record $12.50 billion.
