An 11.3 per cent rise in monthly housing approvals for Queensland and 19.1 per cent drop in Tasmania have headlined the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
New data showing a decline in building approvals for April is "likely to weigh" on economic growth, according to the Housing Industry Association.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its monthly building approvals data on Thursday, revealing a 0.6 per cent decline in national approvals for April.
According to the ABS, seasonally adjusted building approvals in April 2019 were up by 4.8 per cent in New South Wales, 11.3 per cent in Queensland and by 7.7 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory.
All other states recorded a decline in approvals during the month, the largest of which was by 19.1 per cent in Tasmania followed by a 16.1 per cent fall in Victoria.
Western Australia fell by 6.7 per cent and South Australia and the Northern Territory both experienced moderate declines of 3.3 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively.
Tasmania | -19.1 per cent |
Victoria | -16.1 per cent |
Western Australia | -6.7 per cent |
South Australia | -3.3 per cent |
Northern Territory | -2 per cent |
New South Wales | + 4.8 per cent |
ACT | +7.8 per cent |
Queensland | +11.3 per cent |
Source: ABS
Housing Industry Association Chief Economist Tim Reardon said the trend was beginning to flow through to other sections of the economy.
“The downturn in building activity is now evident in other economic data including data on capital expenditure released this week," he said.
"CAPEX fell 1.6 per cent in the March 2019 quarter due to significant falls in expenditure on new buildings."
“With the slowdown in home building accelerating in the first half of 2019, it is likely to weigh on economic growth in next week’s national accounts data."
At a glance:
Mr Reardon said the absence of political uncertainty would not be enough to reverse the trend.
“Approvals for new homes in the three months to April 2019 were 20.5 per cent lower than in the same period the year before,” he said.
“The fall in approvals in April were most likely influenced by low levels of consumer confidence during the Federal Election however, the end of the election alone will not be sufficient to bring stability back into the housing market.
“An easing of the credit squeeze is necessary to alleviate the adverse impact of the housing downturn on the wider economy."
Click here to view the data from the ABS.
Similar to this:
Sharpest fall to the shallowest bottom - HIA economist on rise in housing affordability