Approvals to build new apartments tumbled in August, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The seasonally adjusted figures show that the total number of homes approved fell 6 per cent in August to 14,744, driven by an 8.1 per cent fall in multi-unit dwellings, following a 25.8 per cent fall in July.
House approvals fell 2.6 per cent (to 9,027 dwellings) in August, after rising 1.3 per cent in July. The result is 3.5 per cent lower than one year ago.
ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi noted that the fall was driven by the two largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, which were down 8.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
“In contrast, Queensland rose 2.9 per cent and Western Australia rose 1.7 per cent”, Rossi said.
Approvals in the ‘dwellings excluding houses’ sector fell 8.1 per cent (to 5,408 dwellings) in August, due mainly to a drop in approvals to build apartments and townhouses.
In original terms, apartments approved fell 33.4 per cent (to 2,704 dwellings). This was the second lowest result in the past 12 months, with only 527 new apartments approved in New South Wales and 342 new apartments approved in Victoria.
Meanwhile, townhouse approvals were also down in August, falling 19.1 per cent (to 2,424 dwellings), in original terms. This is compared to a monthly average of 2,632 townhouse approvals in the 12 months prior to August 2025.
The value of total residential building fell 3.1 per cent to $9.17 billion, comprising a 2.0 per cent fall in new residential building to $8.03 billion, and a fall in alterations and additions of 9.9 percent, to $1.14 billion.