Building approvals rose 3.2% in May, missing estimates
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The news: Building approvals rose 3.2% in May to 15,212, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Economists had expected to see monthly growth of 4.8%.
The numbers: The overall increase in approvals was driven by an 11.3% rise in private sector dwellings excluding houses, to 5,571, following a 19% fall in April. The result is 11.9% higher than a year earlier.
Private sector houses had a smaller increase, rising 0.5% to 9,454 following a 5.9% jump in April. The May increase brought private house approvals up to the highest level since October last year.
Victoria had a strong month for private sector house approvals, up 9.5%, as approvals in Western Australia (-7.6%) and New South Wales (-5.4%) dropped.
The value of total building approved fell 8.6% in May to $15.45 billion, following a 6.1% rise in April.
The overall drop in value was driven by a 22.4% fall in non-residential building approved to $6.16 billion. This followed a rise of 14.7% in April.
Despite the fall, the value of non-residential building approved is 5.8% higher than May last year.
The value of total residential building rose 3.6% to $9.28 billion. This is the third highest value of total residential building recorded.
The source: Australian Bureau of Statistics media release
