Housing approvals fall across the board, deepening supply concerns
Dwelling approvals fell 3.6 per cent in November, below expectations, ABS data has shown.
The housing pipeline is growing below expectations with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing a 3.6 per cent fall in building approvals in November.
The decline followed a 5.2 per cent rise in October and was seen across all residential building types, according to ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi.
“Approvals for private sector houses fell 1.7 per cent, while private dwellings excluding houses dropped 10.8 per cent,” Rossi said.
“Despite the fall, approvals for total dwellings remain 3.2 per cent higher than November 2023.”
Private house approvals fell to 9,028 dwellings. Most of the country recorded declines while Queensland was the only state to see growth in the area (+4.3 per cent).
Despite this, the ABS said approvals for private houses remained 3.8 per cent higher than the same time last year.
Private dwellings excluding houses – semis, terraces, townhouses and apartments – fell to 5,285.
The drop was driven by a 5.6 per cent fall in apartment approvals mainly in NSW and Victoria, reversing two consecutive months of strong growth.
AMP economist My Bui said the numbers came below market expectations of a 1 per cent decrease.
She said while a lack of rate hikes in 2024 meant building approvals had trended up last year, “the increase in approvals is from a very low base in 2023”.
It also signalled the housing crisis was showing little signs of improvement, with AMP estimating a current shortfall of “at least” 200,000 homes, as well as a gap between completions and approvals due to delayed or abandoned projects.
“We continue to see the housing shortfall to continue throughout this financial year, which will put a floor on house price depreciation in the first few months 2025 before the RBA starts cutting,” Bui said.
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