Australia building approvals fall in September, worse than market expectations

Building approvals in Australia fell during the month of September, with approvals for the construction of new homes missing what markets had initially anticipated.

Australia’s building approvals were down a seasonally adjusted 8.7 percent on month in September, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday, coming in at 18,945. That missed forecasts for a decline of 3.0 percent following the 1.8 percent decline in August.

Further, on a yearly basis, building approvals were down 6.4 percent - again missing expectations for a gain of 2.1 percent following the 10.1 percent spike in the previous month. Approvals for private sector houses were up 2.3 percent on month and down 1.8 percent on year to 9,605.

In addition, approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses plummeted 16.3 percent on month and 9.9 percent on year to 9,166. The value of total building approved surged 29.9 percent in September following a fall of 7.7 percent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, approvals for private sector houses rose 2.3 percent in the month, and the 'other dwellings' category, which includes apartment blocks and townhouses, was down 16.3 percent.