Australia approved 17,948 dwellings in September, up 5.1 percent on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The rise was driven by private dwellings excluding houses, which rose 16.6 percent to 6,579 after a 21.7 percent fall in August; apartment approvals rose 25.6 percent in original terms to 4,129, slightly above their twelve month average, with New South Wales recording the biggest rise, 1,995 apartments approved against 901 in August.
Private sector house approvals moved the other way, falling 5.3 percent to 10,432, their largest monthly fall since August 2025, though they remain 9.6 percent higher than a year ago and September was the ninth consecutive month above 10,000. The value of total building approved rose 13.0 percent to 19.02 billion Australian dollars, driven by a 45.9 percent rebound in non-residential approvals to 7.96 billion dollars after a 45.5 percent fall in August, while the value of residential building fell 2.8 percent to 11.06 billion dollars.