Melissa Jenkins
(Australian Associated Press)
A surge in construction activity for new apartments and townhouses in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania has fuelled a spike in the latest national building approval figures.
Overall approvals for the construction of new homes jumped 11.7 per cent in November, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ seasonally adjusted data.
That’s well above market expectations of a one per cent decline.
Approvals for private dwellings excluding houses – but including apartment blocks and townhouses – leapt a massive 30.6 per cent over the month, and were up 36.8 per cent from the same time last year.
Private house approvals fell two per cent in November, the ABS figures show, and were up just 2.2 per cent from November 2016.
Across the states, the picture was mixed, with the number of total approvals in Victoria far outstripping all the other states and in particular South Australia, Queensland and NSW.
Victoria’s approvals lifted 37.9 to 8,946 in November, while in Tasmania they were up 10.4 per cent to 261 and in WA – where approvals fell 16.3 per cent in October – they increased by four per cent to 1,619.
Meanwhile, the average national home value was flat in the week to Sunday, according to property data company CoreLogic’s weekly survey, and down 0.4 per cent in November compared to October.
Sydney continues to be the biggest drag on the market, with average home values dipping 0.7 per cent over the month, followed by Perth, where values fell 0.4 per cent.
Adelaide was the strongest performer in terms of property values over the month, up 0.2 per cent, followed closely by Brisbane (up 0.1 per cent).
CAPITAL CITY PRIVATE TREATY MEDIAN PRICES
HOUSES
Sydney – $900,000
Melbourne – $725,000
Canberra – $626,000
Brisbane – $540,000
Perth – $500,000
Darwin – $475,000
Adelaide – $470,000
Hobart – $425,000
Combined capitals – $674,970
UNITS
Sydney – $670,500
Melbourne – $555,000
Canberra – $430,000
Perth – $401,000
Brisbane – $365,000
Hobart – $351,500
Adelaide – $315,000
Darwin – N/A (only nine sales)
Combined capitals – $544,152
Source: CoreLogic Property Market Indicator Summary week ending January 7, 2017.
