Western Australia’s big plunge in building approvals in August has the Master Builders Association of Australia concerned the gap in
available rental stocks will increase and force up rent prices.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed this week that building approvals in all states fell during the month.
The largest drop of 16.6 per cent was recorded in WA. This was followed by falls of 14.5 per cent in Victoria, 14.3 per cent in Queensland, 11.1 per cent in South Australia, 10.9 per cent in Tasmania, and 1.2 per cent in NSW.
MBA chief economist Peter Jones said in a statement the ABS figures reinforced the findings from the organisation’s latest September quarter survey. “The survey results starkly portrayed the impact of the latest interest rate rises, with order books dropping markedly, sales contracts failing to meet expectations and display centre traffic/enquiries remaining weak,” Mr Jones said.
“Inherent volatility in other dwellings (units and townhouses) was confirmed once again, with several states experiencing a sharp drop in unit approvals over the month, although NSW spiked higher.”
New houses accounted for more than 75 per cent of all dwelling units in Victoria (78.8 per cent), WA (84.2 per cent), and Tasmania (86.4 per cent).
The ABS reports the trend for total dwelling units approved in WA has been flat for the past seven months and the trend for private sector houses has shown falls for the past five months.