31 July 2014

New Home Approvals Ease back in June

ABS figures for residential building approvals declined in June following an increase during the previous
month, said the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of Australias residential building industry.

During June 2014, a total of 15,659 dwellings were approved, a 5 per cent decline on the previous
month. However, approvals were 16.0 per cent higher than the same period twelve months ago. During
June, the number of private detached house approvals fell by 2.2 per cent with private multi-unit
approvals experiencing a decline of some 10.5 per cent.

New home approvals have recorded falls in seven of the past nine months, HIA Senior Economist,
Shane Garrett pointed out. It is thus likely that we have already reached the peak in the home building
recovery and that activity is likely to stabilise over the coming year.

Despite Australias inadequate supply of housing, it appears that the usual suspects have brought the
upturn in activity to a halt,. These include factors like slow land release and barriers to the
development of residential land.

Last weeks HIA Building Better Cities Summit explored issues around so-called NIMBY-ism and its
effects on development, added Shane Garrett. Unfortunately, it seems that this culture is catered for
too much by aspects of the regulatory mechanisms for new housing.

With interest rates at historic lows, the window of opportunity remains open for the supply of affordable
housing to be significantly augmented in the near future, Shane Garrett indicated. A greater push on
this front by policymakers could ensure that the housing prospects for this generation of Australians are
greatly enhanced, concluded HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett.

There was considerable state-by-state variation in approvals during June. Victoria was the only state to
record an increase during June, with approvals rising by just 0.3 per cent during the month in seasonally
adjusted terms. The largest declines during the month occurred in Queensland (down 10.5 per cent) and
Tasmania (down 9.0 per cent). Lower activity also affected South Australia (down 3.6 per cent), Western
Australia (down 3.1 per cent) and New South Wales (down 2.1 per cent). In trend terms, approvals rose
by 9.2 per cent in the Northern Territory but fell by some 15.2 per cent in the ACT.



For further information please contact:
Shane Garrett, Senior Economist 0416 633 261
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Monthly Building Approvals - Australia
Source: ABS 8731
Seasonally adjusted Trend
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE