Unit approvals pick up
Building approvals picked up to a seasonally adjusted 16,579 in January, driven by a bump in high-rise and higher-density approvals in Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne.
House approvals were fairly flat for the month at a seasonally adjusted 9,000, but were 8 per cent higher than a year earlier, mainly thanks to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
This was a better result, for sure, but before cracking the champagne it's worth noting that only 107,000 dwellings have been approved across the financial year to date, about 23 per cent below the 140,000 or so needed to meet the stated targets of the Housing Accord.
One of the limitations of the ABS 'trend' series is that it can miss turning points, and although the trend for building approvals moved lower across recent months, it seems highly likely to me that the 2025 calendar year will be stronger for approvals than 2024 was.
Annual dwelling approvals have picked up from a cycle nadir of 164,000 to 175,000 over the past seven months of data, underscoring the point.
Overall, this was a better result, suggesting that developers anticipate a more favourable environment ahead for getting new projects sold at the right price, to be built and then delivered to the market.
---
P.S. Whenever you’re ready…here are 4 ways I can help you:
1. Download our property buying guide
Download our free property buying guide here.
You can also check out a few of our recent property purchases here.
Get in contact with us today if strategic property investment is your thing.
2. Subscribe to our Top 10 Podcasts for Investors
Listen in to our podcasts
The Australian Property Podcast is rapidly becoming one of Australia's biggest business podcasts, now with well over 50,000 audio downloads per month, and growing fast.
And our popular Low Rates High Returns Show also remains available on Spotify.
3. Subscribe for my free daily blog
Subscribe for my free daily blog with some 3¾ million hits here.
You can also catch up with me daily on Twitter here, where I'm active daily and have over 14,800 followers.
By the way, I'm an 8-times published author on finance and investing, so you can check out some of my books here.
My new book, co-authored with Cate Bakos is available to buy here or on Amazon here - follow our book release on Facebook here and at our Buy Right podcast series here.
4. Work with me privately
For a limited time you can book in a free diagnosis call with me here, so book in a call today.
