Australia’s residential building boom has continued, according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals increased by 11.7 per cent in November 2017, driven by a rise in apartment approvals (30.6 percent). Private house approvals, on the other hand, fell 2 percent.
"Dwelling approvals have continued to rise in recent months, which has been driven by renewed strength in approvals for apartments," says Justin Lokhorst, director of Construction Statistics at the ABS.
"Approvals for private sector houses have remained stable, with just under 10,000 houses approved in November 2017."
Throughout the country dwelling approvals increased during November in Victoria (5.6 percent), Tasmania (3.1 percent) and South Australia (0.1 percent). They, however, decreased in the ACT (21.9 per cent), Northern Territory (3.8 per cent), Queensland (1.2 per cent), NSW (0.9 per cent) and Western Australia (0.6 per cent).
The building boom isn’t expected to continue. IFM Investors chief economist, Alex Joiner, told the ABC that he expects a pullback in approvals of medium-density dwellings.
"From there I would suggest that approvals will continue to decline modestly in trend terms as interest rates remain unchanged."
