March Home Approvals Plunge

While building approvals took a dive in March, they are still 9% higher than at the same time last year.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show building approvals dropped by 10.5% between February and March, driven by a big drop in the number of units and townhouses approved.

Although over the 12 months to April 2026, approvals for houses increased by 12% and units are up 3.4%.

During March, Victoria had the highest number of dwellings approved (5178), followed by New South Wales (4282), Queensland (3975), Western Australia (2358) and South Australia (1274).

While building approvals paint a picture of proposed development, a more relevant gauge of the sector is commencements data, which is due for release in early July.

Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon says when looking at apartment approvals data, it’s important to take into account that apartment approvals take longer to translate into construction, with some never doing so.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn says Australia is expected to fall more than 200,000 homes short of the National Housing Accord’s 1.2 million homes target and the latest figures “show that a 77,600-home backlog has already accumulated”.