Detached building approvals reached a record level for the third consecutive month in April. The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday released its monthly building approvals data for detached and multi-units data covering all states and territories. Source: Timberbiz
“There is an unprecedented volume of building starts set to occur in 2021,” HIA Economist Angela Lillicrap said. “HomeBuilder and low interest rates have facilitated in a surge in demand for detached homes that will see a record number of detached homes built this year and into 2022,” she said.
Detached housing approvals increased by 14.8% in the three months to April 2021, to be 63.7% higher than the same time last year.
Ms Lillicrap said that detached housing approvals were expected to stay elevated for several more months, consistent with the results in more timely leading indicators such as HIA’s New Home Sales Report.
“Although new home sales fell in April, the results suggest that a significant number of new homes are still entering the construction pipeline for customers post HomeBuilder,” she said.
“Low interest rates, strong house price growth and an increased preference for detached homes and regional areas will continue to drive demand for new houses over the months to come.
“The value of renovations activity approved is also elevated, up by 49.7% in the three months to April 2021 compared to the same time last year. This is the highest quarterly result since records began in 1973.”
In seasonally adjusted terms, detached approvals saw the biggest increase in the three months to April 2021 compared to the same time last year in Western Australia (+159.2%). This was followed by South Australia (+93.3%), Queensland (+65.7%) and Victoria (+44.5%). New South Wales recorded in increase of 36.4 per cent during the same period.
In original terms, detached house approvals increased in the Northern Territory by 174.3% during the three months to April 2021 compared to the same time last year. Tasmania (+48.8%) and the Australian Capital Territory (+44.4%) also increased during this period.
