Building approvals eased toward the end of 2024, with new Australian Bureau of Statistic figures showing approvals in November are down by 3.6% on the previous month. The latest data, released in January, shows drops in all residential building types – and confirms Australia is well short of the level of new dwellings needed to meet government targets of 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029.

ABS head of construction statistics, Daniel Rossi, says approvals for houses are down 1.7% and for other residential property (units, apartments and townhouses) are down 10.8%. Queensland is the only state to record growth in private sector house approvals in November, with a 4.3% rise.

Unit approvals are higher than house approvals in every state and there is a particularly large difference in Victoria where 4,644 units have been approved and 2,567 houses. News South Wales has 3,539 units and 1,744 houses, Queensland 3,259 units and 2,026 houses, South Australia 1,104 units and 895 houses and West Australia 2,085 units and 1,518 houses.

While the number of buildings being approved may have dropped during the month, the value of residential construction is rising, in line with increased development costs. The ABS data shows the total value of building approved increased 6.6% in November to $14.32 billion.