Detached house approvals across Australia rose by 6.1% in September to 9890, the highest monthly number of detached house approvals in two years. Source: Timberbiz
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Thursday released its monthly building approvals data for September 2024 for detached houses and multi-units covering all states and territories.
“There were 28,970 detached house approvals nationally in the September quarter 2024. This is 4.1% higher than in the previous quarter and 12.9% higher than at the same time in the previous year,” HIA Economist Maurice Tapang said.
“It has been a year since the RBA last raised interest rates. Unchanged cash rate settings, supported by strong population growth, low unemployment levels and acute housing shortages, have helped lift consumer sentiment.
“The result seen in house approvals data continues to confirm that the market is past its trough, and more buyers are building a new home especially in those markets outside of Sydney,” he said.
Detached house approvals in Melbourne were double that of approvals in Sydney, despite the two capital cities having comparatively similar population numbers and inflows.
Mr Tapang said that detached house approvals in some areas of Regional NSW had also improved as home buyers in the state search for more affordable opportunities outside the capital city.
“The cost of home building materials are growing at a more normal pace, while build times for houses are back to pre-pandemic levels. The price of shovel-ready land, however, remains prohibitively high especially in Sydney,” he said.
“Multi-unit approvals rose by 8.5% in the month of September to 4,950. Approvals for multi-units have been bumpy and trending at decade-low levels amid challenges with capacity, labour availability and materials costs.
“There were 14,890 multi-unit approvals in the September quarter 2024, which is 10.7% higher than in the previous quarter and 1.2% higher than at the same time in the previous year.
“The volume of apartment construction needs to double current approvals numbers in order to achieve the Australian Government’s target of 1.2 million homes over five years,” Mr Tapang said.
Detached house approvals in the September quarter 2024 rose by 49.9% in Western Australia compared to the same time in the previous year. This was followed by South Australia (+21.1%), Queensland (+17.8%), and Victoria (+9.3%). The other jurisdictions recorded a decline over the same period, led by the Australian Capital Territory (-20.9%), followed by Tasmania (-19.1%), New South Wales (-5.1%) and the Northern Territory (-1.9%).
Muli-unit approvals in the September quarter 2024 rose by 179.1% in Western Australia compared to the previous year. This was followed by Queensland (+39.6%) and South Australia (+0.3%). The Northern Territory recorded no change over the same period, while declines were recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (-75.2%), Tasmania (-10.9%), New South Wales (-8.4%) and Victoria (-4.2%).
