Residential building approvals continued their downtrend in July, making an even sharper slump over the month due to the significant fall in the apartment sector.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed a 17.2% decline in the total number of dwellings approved in July, a sharper decline from the 0.6% fall in June.
The biggest driver of the decline during the month was the apartment sector, which posted a 43.5% drop, dragging the number of approvals for apartments to the lowest level since January 2012.
The significant decline in apartment approvals was due to the lack of activity in the large development space.
Meanwhile, approvals for private sector houses remained steady, increasing by 0.7% in July, a softer growth than the 1.6% gain in June.
The biggest declines in overall approvals were recorded in Western Australia (36.9%), followed by Victoria (17.4%), New South Wales (16.2%), Tasmania (14.5%), and Queensland (13.7%).
Of all states, only South Australia was able to register gains in approvals at 19.2%.
With the overall slump in approvals, the value of residential buildings approved fell 6.1%, which was driven by the 6.9% decline in new residential building and the 1.3% fall in renovations.
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