Aside from engineering and architectural design, one of the earliest requirements of a building project is to obtain approval from the relevant statutory body. As a result, building approvals data is a leading economic indicator of future construction. While not all projects which have been approved are completed, all completed projects will have been granted approval. Approvals data thus provides a useful indicator of future construction.
The latest building approval figures have been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and they indicate total approvals bounced back after falling in a hole in December. Total January dwelling approvals were 17.1% higher than December’s revised total and well above the median forecast of +5%. On a 12 month basis and after revisions, total approvals were 12.0% higher.
While house approvals fell by 0.9% in January, over a 12 month period approvals were still 5.9% higher. After revisions, the corresponding figures for December were +1.3% for the month and +6.2% for the year.
Apartment approvals are a lot more volatile (see chart below) and they rebounded by 43.28% in January after they plummeted 39.5% in December. Compared to January 2017, apartment approvals were 18.9% higher.