Apartments Drive Fall In Dwelling Approvals: Australia

The total number of dwellings approved fell 6.0 per cent in August to 14,744, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: 'The drop in total dwellings was driven by an 8.1 per cent fall in private dwellings excluding houses, following a 25.8 per cent fall in July.'

'Private sector houses also fell, down 2.6 per cent in August.'

NSW and Vic drive fall in private sector house approvals

Private sector house approvals fell 2.6 per cent (to 9,027 dwellings), after rising 1.3 per cent in July. The result is 3.5 per cent lower than one year ago.

'The fall in private sector houses in August was driven by the two largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, which were down 8.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively' Mr Rossi said.

'In contrast, Queensland rose 2.9 per cent and Western Australia rose 1.7 per cent.'

Apartment approvals drive fall in dwellings excluding houses

Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 8.1 per cent (to 5,408 dwellings) in August. Approvals for apartments and townhouses was the main driver of the fall.

In original terms, apartments approved fell 33.4 per cent (to 2,704 dwellings). This was the second lowest result in the past 12 months, with only 527 new apartments approved in New South Wales and 342 new apartments approved in Victoria.

Meanwhile, townhouse approvals were also down in August, falling 19.1 per cent (to 2,424 dwellings), in original terms. This is compared to a monthly average of 2,632 townhouse approvals in the 12 months prior to August 2025.

(a) Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for NT and ACT for all dwelling types. Private sector houses are not published for Tasmania.

Non-residential approvals drives value rise

The value of total building approved rose 8.6 per cent in August to $17.09 billion, following a 6.6 per cent July fall.

The overall gain in approved value was driven by a 26.1 per cent rise in non-residential building approved to $7.92 billion. This followed a 13.8 per cent fall in July.

In contrast, the value of total residential building fell 3.1 per cent to $9.17 billion. The result was comprised of a 2.0 per cent fall in new residential building to $8.03 billion, plus a fall in alterations and additions of 9.9 percent, to $1.14 billion.