Another boom month in what turned out to be a boom year for housing construction and finance. After COVID, who woulda thunk that?
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Wednesday confirmed yet another strong month with private sector house approvals up for the sixth consecutive month in December, seasonally adjusted, and reached a record high.
As well the value of residential renovations also hit a record high in December of $941 million.
All this due to the $2 billion or more in federal aid to new home buyers and to tradies.
Private sector house approvals jumped nearly 16% in December to be up a massive 55.6% over 2020 as a whole.
On Monday the ABS said the value of housing finance soared 31% in 2020, with owner occupied finance jumping 38%.
Daniel Rossi, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS, said on Wednesday that : “Approvals for private houses rose 15.8 per cent in December, while dwellings excluding houses rose 2.3 per cent.
“Private house approvals were strong across the country, with Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia hitting record highs in seasonally adjusted terms. Federal and state housing stimulus measures, along with record low interest rates have contributed to strong demand for detached dwellings.
“Despite the uncertainty experienced by developers and households during 2020, the total number of dwellings approved in the calendar year was 4.8 per cent higher than in 2019,” he said.
The total number of dwellings approved rose 10.9% in December. Dwelling approvals rose across all states, in seasonally adjusted terms to be up a solid 22.8% over the 12 months.
Tasmania led the way, rising 66.5% in a month (from a very low base figure), followed by Queensland (24.0%), South Australia (16.7%), Victoria (8.6%), WA (7.8%) and NSW (1.8%).
Approvals for private sector houses also rose in all states in December; South Australia (33.6%), Victoria (17.2%), NSW (16%), Queensland (7.5%) and WA (5.3%).
The value of total building approved rose 4.9% in December, in seasonally adjusted terms. The value of non-residential building drove the increase, rising 10.1%, having fallen 27.7% in November.
The value of total residential building increased 2.3%, comprising a 1.4% rise in new residential building, and an 8.1% increase in alterations and additions.
Over 2020, the value of new residential building jumped 28%, while the value of renovations soared 44%.
