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Building approvals in Australia during the month of June decline for the second straight month in a row, adding evidence that Australia’s residential construction boom has now become a past.
Australia’s housing approvals slumped 2.9 percent to 18,693 after seasonal adjustments, well below expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Tuesday. May’s decline, originally reported as a fall of 5.2 percent, was revised to a drop of 5.4 percent.
Private sector house approvals slid 2.3 percent to 9,367, leaving them 5.9 percent below the levels of a year earlier. Also, apartments with private sector approvals slipped 2.4 percent to 9,116, down 4.8 percent on June 2015. Over the past year, including private and public sectors, total dwelling approvals numbered 233,246, below the record level of 241,016 approved in the 12 months to October 2015.
Further, According to the ABS, the value of total building approved rose 5.3 percent, recouping around half of the decline registered in May. The value of residential building fell 1.5 percent, the second decline in a row, while the value of non-residential building jumped 20.8 percent, following 18.3 percent decline in May. Combined, the value of both residential and non-residential approvals over the past year totaled USD106.9 billion, the highest 12-month total on record.
Moreover, the value of both new residential dwelling approvals and alterations fell during the month, logging declines of 1.2 percent and 3.8 percent respectively. Meanwhile, compared to a year earlier, the value of new residential approvals rose by 1.3 percent, offsetting a drop of 1.9 percent for alterations.
