WA records double-digit fall in building approvals

Home building approvals have fallen for another month to an eight-year low in June, as the housing sector struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Approvals for the construction of new homes fell 4.9 per cent, which was worse than the 2 per cent decrease the market was expecting.

Approvals for private sector houses were down 5.7 per cent in the month, while those in the “other dwellings” category, which includes apartment blocks and townhouses, fell 5.3 per cent.

WA was among the States to record double-digit falls, with approvals tumbling 11.7 per cent.

Big falls were also recorded in NSW (14.8 per cent), Queensland (10.9 per cent) and Tasmania (10.8 per cent), while South Australia (4.6 per cent) and Victoria (0.2 per cent) also declined.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the pullback was in line with Westpac expectations and the bank has approvals tracking in line with its forecasts for 2020.

“Approvals will likely understate weakness in building as work on many existing projects will likely be delayed and some approved projects will be shelved or slower to commence,” he said.

“Also bear in mind that coming months will see some additional support coming from the Government’s HomeBuilder scheme.”

In the 12 months to June, building approvals were down 15.8 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Falls in dwelling approvals were recorded across all the states for both detached and attached dwellings, with NSW, Queensland and Western Australia suffering double digit falls. AAP jcc 30-07-20 1236