Home approvals are on the rise around the country, reaching their highest level in over a
year.
This is welcome news amid our current housing shortage as some areas have recorded
a high volume of building approvals in the past year.
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According to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, total dwelling approvals
increased nationally by 4.4 per cent from August to September 2024 to 14,842, the highest level since May 2023.
Home approvals are on the rise around the country, according to new Bureau of Statistics figures. Image: Stefan Postles.
This was mainly driven by private dwellings excluding houses, which rose by 4.7 per cent over the month.
In the past year, the total number of homes approved rose by 6.8 per cent with houses making up majority of annual growth.
Approvals for houses were 16.7 per cent higher than September 2023.
PropTrack economic analyst Megan Lieu. Supplied.
Queensland saw an even greater increase in approvals than the national rate. In September
2024, approvals were 26 per cent higher than a year prior.
Notably, numerous local government areas (LGAs) within the state are likely to see a
significant uptick in the supply of new homes in the short to medium term.
These are areas where the number of approvals for new homes have been the highest in the 12 months to August 2024.
A new residential estate at Logan, where new home approvals have risen in the past year.
The Logan, Moreton Bay and Brisbane LGAs led in terms of approval numbers for houses in
Queensland. There were 7,662, 7,598, 6364 houses approved from September 2023 to
August 2024, respectively.
For apartments, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast LGAs topped the list for new
home approvals during the same period, with respective figures of 7,152, 4,494 and 1,154.
The high number of approvals is positive news for these areas as it reflects a strong uplift in
housing stock, which is crucial given the country’s current housing shortage.
The rise in home approvals reflects a strong uplift in housing stock in certain areas, according to PropTrack economic analyst Megan Lieu. Image: Stefan Postles.
Higher supply could also lead to more affordable options and improved infrastructure in these areas.
Although the number of approvals nationally has been trending upwards since the start of
the year, it is still lower than the pre-pandemic average from 2010 to 2019 by 10 per cent.
Strong population growth coupled with prolonged build times for homes has widened the
demand and supply gap and exacerbated the housing crisis.
With a national target to build an additional 1.2 million homes by 2030, appropriate policy
changes must be made to encourage faster construction timelines.
*Megan Lieu is an economic analyst with PropTrack.
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