03 Sep Dwelling Approvals reach eight year low point

REMPLAN Data Update – 2019-20 Building Approvals

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has recently released building approvals data (2019-20) and we are pleased to advise you that all public-access REMPLAN Economy and Community profiles have now been updated with this data.

According to the ABS, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on building approvals, with dwelling approvals falling to an eight year low in June: 

‘…Travel restrictions have reduced the number of overseas arrivals to near-zero, resulting in less housing demand from overseas migrants. 

In June, the effects of COVID-19 on Building Approvals were mixed. For residential approvals, there was a broad-based fall in dwellings approved, across all housing types and States. In contrast, the value of alterations and additions to residential buildings rose sharply. Meanwhile, the value of non-residential building approved rose in June, but remains below the levels recorded in early 2020.’ 

Number of building approvals 

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of total dwellings approved in Australia fell 4.9% in June. In the private sector, the number of approvals for houses fell 5.7% and approvals for dwellings excluding houses fell 5.3% in June. 

Value of building approvals 

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total building approved in Australia rose 7.3% in June. The value of non-residential building rose 17.8% and the value of residential building rose 0.1% in June. New residential building approvals fell 1.6% while alterations and additions to residential building rose 11.4%. 

To access the building approvals data via REMPLAN online profiles, select the ‘Trends’ tab towards the top right of the screen, then select ‘Building Approvals’ from the sub-menu. Click on the image below to view a live example:

To view building approvals data for 2019-2020 for each of the states and territories, please click on the following links: ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA. 

As a result of COVID-19, the ability of businesses to trade as normal, rising unemployment, reduced household income and uncertainty are potential impacts on building approvals data in the short term. In the long term we anticipate building approvals data will reflect falling COVID-cases and easing of restrictions. 

Building approvals data for 2020-21 is expected to be available in August 2021. 

Please do not hesitate to contact the REMPLAN team should you have any questions regarding this update. We are also available to provide REMPLAN software training, presentations and management briefings. 

Let’s Talk: 1300 737 443 

Kind Regards, 
The REMPLAN team