Building Approvals, Australia

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Provides the number of dwelling units and value of buildings approved

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Reference period
April 2025
Released
30/05/2025
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    Building Approvals, Australia, May 2025
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    Building Approvals, Australia, May 2025
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    Building Approvals, Australia, June 2025
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Key statistics

The April 2025 seasonally adjusted estimate: 

  • Total dwellings approved fell 5.7%, to 14,633.
  • Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 19.0%, to 4,999, while private sector houses rose 3.1%, to 9,349.
  • The value of total residential building fell 1.3%, to $8.91b.
  • The value of non-residential building rose 14.7%, to $7.91b.

Dwellings approved

April key figures
 Apr 25 (no.)Monthly change (%)Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted 
 Total dwelling units approved14,633-5.77.6
 Private sector houses9,3493.14.6
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses4,999-19.014.3
Trend 
 Total dwelling units approved15,132-0.512.0
 Private sector houses9,2110.42.6
 Private sector dwellings excluding houses5,681-1.732.3
  1. Trend break added to 'Total dwelling units approved' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the number of dwellings approved fell 5.7%, after falling 7.1% in March. 

The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 0.5%, following a 0.6% fall in March.

  1. Trend break added to 'Private sector houses' trend series for February 2021

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector house approvals rose 3.1%, after a 1.9% fall in March. Private sector dwellings excluding houses approved fell 19.0%, following a 14.4% fall in March.

The trend estimate for private sector house approvals rose 0.4%, after a 0.2% March increase. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.7%, after dropping 1.4% in March.

Seasonally adjusted summary, by state

Approvals for total dwellings were mixed: New South Wales (-7.8%), Victoria (-6.5%), and Queensland (-1.3%) fell, while Tasmania (12.7%), Western Australia (9.6%), and South Australia (9.5%) rose.

Approvals for private sector houses were also mixed: New South Wales (7.3%), Queensland (7.3%), and Victoria (0.9%) rose. South Australia (-1.2%) and Western Australia (-0.6%) fell in April.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, seasonally adjusted
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales2,0017.33,738-7.8
Victoria2,5160.93,952-6.5
Queensland2,0997.33,230-1.3
South Australia885-1.21,3379.5
Western Australia1,598-0.62,0409.6
Tasmanianana18612.7
Northern Territorynananana
Australian Capital Territorynananana
Australia9,3493.114,633-5.7

na not available
 

Trend summary, by state

In trend terms, approvals for total dwellings varied across the states and territories: Victoria (-3.3%), Tasmania (-1.7%), and New South Wales (-0.7%) fell. Australian Capital Territory (8.6%), Northern Territory (3.6%), South Australia (1.8%), Western Australia (1.6%), and Queensland (0.7%) rose in April.

Approvals for private sector houses rose in New South Wales (1.7%), Western Australia (1.6%), Queensland (0.8%), and South Australia (0.3%). Victoria was the only state to fall (-1.4%) in trend terms.

Dwellings approved, states and territories, trend
 Private sector housesPrivate sector housesTotal dwelling units approvedTotal dwelling units approved
(no.)Monthly change (%)(no.)Monthly change (%)
New South Wales1,9321.73,752-0.7
Victoria2,541-1.44,431-3.3
Queensland2,0160.83,1150.7
South Australia8820.31,3391.8
Western Australia1,5651.61,8941.6
Tasmanianana173-1.7
Northern Territorynana583.6
Australian Capital Territorynana3428.6
Australia9,2110.415,132-0.5

na not available
 

Value of building approved

  1. Trend break added to 'Total residential' trend series for September 2020 and February 2021.

Value of building approved, seasonally adjusted

The value of total building approved rose 5.6% (to $16.82b), following an 11.5% rise in March. The value of total residential building fell 1.3% (to $8.91b), comprised of a 1.2% decrease in new residential building (to $7.75b) and a 2.0% fall in alterations and additions (to $1.16b).

The value of non-residential building rose 14.7% (to $7.91b), after a 51.9% increase in March.

Value of building approved, trend

The trend estimate of the value of total building approved rose 2.0% (to $16.04b), following a 2.0% rise in March. The value of total residential building was flat in April in trend terms ($9.23b), comprised of new residential building ($8.05b) and alterations and additions ($1.17b).

The value of non-residential building rose 4.8% (to $6.82b), following a 4.2% March rise.

Value of building approved, by building type
 Seasonally adjustedSeasonally adjustedTrendTrend
($m)Monthly change (%)($m)Monthly change (%)
New residential building7,750-1.28,0540.0
Alterations and additions to residential building1,159-2.01,1740.0
Total residential building8,909-1.39,2280.0
Non-residential building7,90914.76,8174.8
Total building16,8185.616,0442.0

Data downloads

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Dwellings approved

Data files
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Value of building approved

Data files
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Non-residential building approved

Data files
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Chain volume measures

Data files
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Demolitions

Data files

  • Table 87. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, original, states and territories

    Download xlsx [52.98 KB]

  • Table 88. Number of dwellings approved for demolition, by Greater Capital City Statistical Area - original

    Download xlsx [58.08 KB]

Small area datacubes

Data items

Building Approvals: Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Data files
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NSW

Data files
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Vic.

Data files
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Qld

Data files
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SA

Data files
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WA

Data files
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Tas.

Data files
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NT

Data files
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ACT

Data files

Validation table

Building Approvals: Data cube validation table

Data files
Download xlsx [43.15 KB]

Small area approvals (.csv)

Statistical Area Level 2

Data files

Local Government Area

Data files

Demolition approvals (.csv)

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the time period when using Data Explorer.

Help for: Data Explorer Datasets

Building Approvals by Greater Capital Cities Statistical Area (GCCSA) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2001 onwards

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2016 - June 2021

Building Approvals by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) and above - Number and value of approvals, monthly, July 2021 onwards

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2023) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2023/24

Building Approvals by Local Government Area (LGA 2024) - Number and value of approvals, monthly, 2024/25

Dwellings revised by state

In this release, revisions are provided for the time period from July 2023 to March 2025. Further information about potential sources of revisions can be found here: "Revisions to Building Approval Statistics".

Revisions to the total number of dwelling units approved in this issue are:

Dwellings revised
  2023-242024-25
New South Wales36
Victoria-3142
Queensland21176
South Australia--1
Western Australia136
Tasmania--3
Northern Territory--
Australian Capital Territory--
Total-6256

Post release changes

06/06/2025 - As advertised in the ABS future releases calendar, this additional information release contains all Building Approvals small area data components. This is comprised of the small area excel data cubes, csv files and additional Data Explorer links for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years. 

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8731.0.

Methodology

Scope

Approvals included:

  • construction of new buildings
  • alterations and additions to existing buildings
  • non-structural renovation and refurbishment
  • installation of integral building fixtures
  • full demolitions of existing dwellings.

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
  • Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
  • Local Government Areas.

Source

Administrative data collection from local government or other approving authorities.

Collection method

Statistics of building work approved are compiled from:

  • local government authorities and other principal certifying authorities
  • contracts authorised by government authorities
  • media reports and the Building Activity Survey.

Concepts, sources and methods

Buildings are classified according to the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings, January 2021.

History of changes

Concurrent seasonal adjustment was reinstated from the May 2022 release.

View full methodology

Media releases