Building activity in Australia showed significant growth in the September quarter, with the total number of dwelling commencements rising 4.6% to 43,247, in seasonally adjusted terms.
New private sector houses drove the increase, climbing 5.2% to 27,651, following a 3.7% rise in the June quarter.
Meanwhile, new private sector other residential commencements rose 3.8% to 14,677, rebounding from a 5% decline in the previous quarter.
A total of 220,265 dwellings were under construction during the quarter, including 87,672 new houses.
In terms of completions, 44,884 dwellings were finalised in the September quarter. Private new houses accounted for 28,677 completions, a marginal 0.2% rise from the June quarter.
However, private sector other residential completions fell by 5.5% to 14,860.
The value of total building work done increased slightly by 0.3% to A$38.5 billion. New residential building work was the main contributor, rising 2.2% to $20.1 billion, following a 1.2% increase in the June quarter.
Non-residential building work declined 1.7% to $15.1 billion but remained 0.8% higher than the previous year. Alterations and additions to residential buildings fell 1.2% to $3.2 billion.
