Approvals bump
AiG's Performance of Construction Index posting a woeful reading of just 38.9 for December.
Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
Building approvals posted a small bounce in November 2019, mainly thanks to Sydney units which came off an exceptionally low base in October.
As for whether house approvals have yet found a base?
Yes - in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
And no - in Sydney and Perth.
Piecing it together there was a small bump in the monthly trend, though the trend for total approvals remains -12 per cent lower year-on-year.
The rolling annual number of dwelling approvals declined further to 172,600, down from 242,300 at the 2016 peak.
There were just 158 public sector approvals in November, manly comprising attached dwelling units these days.
And finally the value of non-residential approvals is slipping lower, bringing the annual value of building jobs approved down a bit to $114 billion, from a 2018 peak of $130 billion.
The wrap
Overall, you can make a case that building approvals have begun to find a base on stronger housing market conditions, but being largely founded upon higher-density apartment projects this could take a long time to translate in stronger activity.
