Unit approvals bottoming?
House approvals continued to sink in December, with only 7,728 approvals over the seasonally quiet month, with Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth leading the declines over the year.
On the other hand, there was a bit of a monthly rebound in high-rise unit approvals in Sydney and Melbourne in December.
House approvals likely still have some way to fall from here, though it's possible that attached dwelling approvals may have bottomed in the larger capital cities, as supply shortages loom.
It's easy to get lost in the noise on these types of figures.
The big picture is that building approvals declined -4.3 per cent over the December quarter, and annual approvals fell to a 24-month low of 188,765.
Stock listings also look to have dropped back in January, so the overall theme is...shortage.
KPMG estimates that Australia's population grew by a thumping 440,000 in 2022, with more to come in 2023.
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The FOMC lifted US interest rates by 25 basis points yesterday, but markets are looking ahead for rate cuts as disinflation becomes the order of the day.
The Aussie dollar has levitated all the way back up to mid-2022 levels at 71.6 US cents.
