Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported a decline of 8.1 per cent in approved dwelling numbers for the month of July, a four year low, following a 7.9 per cent drop in June.
“The fall in total number of dwellings approved was driven by a decrease in private sector dwellings excluding houses, which fell 15.8 per cent, following a 21.9 per cent fall in June,” Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said.
“Approvals for private sector houses remained flat, following a 1.0 per cent fall in June.”
Dwelling approvals experienced declines in the majority of states: Victoria saw a decrease of 18.3 per cent, Queensland declined by 5.5 per cent, Western Australia dropped by 5.2 per cent, New South Wales decreased by 4.7 per cent, and South Australia recorded a 2.6 per cent dip. However, Tasmania saw a notable increase of 39.5 per cent after a 36.6 per cent decline in June.
Private sector house approvals exhibited a varied performance across states, with increases observed in Western Australia (+6.0 per cent) and Queensland (+5.0 per cent). Conversely, South Australia saw a decrease of 9.1 per cent, while Victoria and New South Wales experienced declines of 4.0 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively, in the month of July.
Following a 7.2 per cent increase in June, the total value of building approvals experienced a significant decline of 16.9 per cent. In the residential building sector, the total value dropped by 4.4 per cent, consisting of a 5.1 per cent decrease in new residential building and a 0.4 per cent decline in alterations and additions.
The value of non-residential building approved fell 27.8 per cent in July, following a 28.6 per cent increase in June.Â
The fall in dwelling approvals came as the value of new investor housing loan commitments in Queensland rose 6.8 per cent to $1.9 billion in July 2023.
“The value of new housing investment loans in Queensland rose 31 per cent since February 2023,” Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said.
“In contrast, other states and territories had more mixed results.”
The value of new owner-occupier loan commitments (excluding refinancing) fell 1.9 per cent to $15.6 billion in July, while the value of new investor loan commitments fell just 0.1 per cent to $8.6 billion.
The value of owner-occupier housing loan refinancing between lenders rose 4.9 per cent to a new record high of $14.6 billion in July.
The ABS said anecdotal feedback suggests this may be partly driven by a portion of refinancing applications lodged before lenders ended attractive cashback offers on 30 June.