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 have been granted approval. Approvals data thus provides a useful indicator of future construction activity.
The latest building approval figures have been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and figures for October indicated a return to the declines of July and August after a small bounce in September. Seasonally-adjusted, total approvals fell by 1.5% in October, in line with expectations and a partial reversal of September’s revised increase of 5.5%. On an annual basis, total approvals fell by 13.4%, a further deterioration from September’s comparable figure of -12.8% after revisions.
