Australia: Sharp reduction in unit approvals – ANZ

ANZ analysts note that the Australian residential building fell m/m in July by 9.7%, after a small fall in June.

Key Quotes

“Private sector unit approvals were down 18.4% m/m, to be down 44.2% y/y. This is the third lowest annual result in both the last year and the last decade.”

“Private sector house approvals were down 3.3% m/m, wiping out modest gains in June and are now down 16.6% y/y. House approvals have fallen an average of 1.5% per month for the last year, with only three months where growth was positive.”

“The value of non-residential approvals weakened in July (-9.9% m/m), wiping out most of the gain in June (10.5% m/m). This is likely to reflect short-term volatility in approvals. Trend growth in non-residential approvals is filling some of the gap left by the weaker housing sector.”