Even though there was a small improvement in building approvals in July, it wasn’t convincing.
Building approvals rose 1% in July, ending three months of falls including a 3.6% drop in June, but the increase was under market expectations.
More importantly, approvals for private housing dipped 0.2% in July, the 10th monthly fall in a row.
The figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that a total of 7,600 private houses were approved for construction in July, compared with 9,098 in July of last year and the most recent peak of 8,956 approvals in September.
The overall increase was half the 2% rise forecast by the market.
On an annual basis, total approvals fell 15% in the year to July, following a 15.5% drop in the year to June.
Private sector housing approvals were 16.4% down on July of last year.
The ABS said approvals rose in July in NSW (a seasonally adjusted 5.4%) but fell in the rest of the country with Tasmania down a huge 26.3% (but it is a very small market).
Falls were also reported in South Australia (-8.8%), Victoria (-3.1%), Queensland (-1.8%) and Western Australia (-1.4%) in seasonally adjusted terms.
Approvals fell for private houses in Queensland (-14.5%), Western Australia (-8.2%) and South Australia (-3.0%).
But there were solid rises in Victoria (8.7%) and NSW (4.6%).
The ABS said the seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector dwellings excluding houses approved fell 1.4% following a fall of 4.5% last month.
The ABS said the value of total building approved fell 4.4% in July in seasonally adjusted terms.
The value of total residential building fell by 1.2% while non-residential building fell by 9.7% after a 3.5% rise in June.
Housing Industry Association figures released on Monday confirm that the new home sector is struggling.
New home sales have fallen to a 10-year low in July, according to the Housing Industry Association, dropping 8% in July, after June’s 8.7% fall.
New home sales fell sharply in July for a second consecutive month, reflecting deterioration in new home building conditions, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said.
The HIA JELD-WEN new home sales report shows sales of detached house sales fell 9% in July, while sales of multi-units increased by 1%.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said in a statement the July sales result reflected a marked deterioration in new home building conditions.
However, he said the weak environment was good news for new home buyers, making it a good time to build or buy.
The report found detached new house sales fell 11.2% in NSW, 7.8% in Victoria, 8.5% in Queensland, 1.5% in South Australia and 12.7% in Western Australia.
