“Detached building approvals rose in August 2021, suggesting there is still strong demand for housing despite the end of stimulus measures in March,” stated HIA Economist, Angela Lillicrap.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics today released its monthly building approvals data for detached and multi-units data covering all states and territories.

“Residential dwelling approvals increased by 33.7 per cent in the three months to August 2021 compared to the same time last year, with detached approvals up by 31.5 per cent and multi-unit approvals up by 38.1 per cent,” added Ms Lillicrap.

“The value of renovations approved also reached its second highest level on record. Households are spending money that typically would have been spent on overseas holidays, on improving their living spaces.

“Leading indicators, including HIA’s New Home Sales data, suggest that the detached market remains robust despite lockdowns. Sales in the three months to August 2021 were 15.4 per cent higher than at the same time in 2019 and 4.5 per cent higher than the same time in 2018.

“This will flow through to approvals data in the coming months and will continue to create employment opportunities into the second half of 2022.

“Multi-unit approvals also increased in August 2021 to be 39.7 per cent higher than the trough in the three months to July 2020. This increase has been driven by both semi-detached units and townhouses and apartments.

“This strong demand for apartments is particularly evident in Queensland and Western Australia where population growth is driving demand for medium density housing. The number of units approved in Queensland and Western Australia were 33.2 per cent and 84.2 per cent higher in the 12 months to August 2021 than in the previous year,” concluded Ms Lillicrap.

In seasonally adjusted terms, total residential building approvals increased in the three months to August 2021 compared to the same time last year in Western Australia (62.4 per cent) followed by South Australia (51.5 per cent), New South Wales (38.7 per cent) and Queensland (37.6 per cent). Victoria (26.5 per cent) and Tasmania (10.7 per cent) also recorded an increase in approvals during this period.

In original terms, building approvals declined in the Northern Territory by 38.1 per cent and the Australian Capital Territory declined by 33.1 per cent.

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