Building approvals slow in July

Dwelling approvals in Western Australia are 9 per cent lower than 12 months ago, although they have improved moderately in the past three months.

Commenting on ABS data released on Wednesday, HIA principal economist Tim Reardon said WA remained in the midst of the worst building downturn on record, but was hopeful that March may have been the beginning of a long-term recovery.

Dwelling approvals in February, March and April averaged about 1,200 per month, but increased to about 1,400 for the months of May, June and July.

“The last three months we have seen a pick-up in building activity of 11.8 per cent compared to the previous three months,” Mr Reardon said.

“We are starting to see green shoots in population growth for WA and with the slowdown in NSW and Victoria, we would expect these states are no longer pulling workers from WA.”

He said any recovery over the next two years would be modest, before the market returned to more normal levels.