Figures show slump near end

EVIDENCE this week that the slump in WA building activity may be nearing an end with the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicating a 12 per cent increase in seasonally adjusted approval numbers during the September quarter.

Yet approvals still need to recover a lot of ground to be back to its November peak when 2,121 dwelling units were approved compared with 1,219 in September.

In Perth, 2,734 dwellings were approved valued at more than $366 million.

The highest proportion of dwelling units approved fell within the North metropolitan region of Joondalup, Stirling and Wanneroo. About a third of all Perth approvals were in this region worth an estimated $109 million.

The City of Swan had 221 approvals granted during the September quarter – the highest number of approvals within a local government area.

Of the southern suburbs, the City of Cockburn had 200 housing approvals worth $22 million granted while Gosnells had 180 approvals granted.