Dwelling approvals fell in May but data centres surged: ABS
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The news: The total number of approved dwellings fell 1.1% in May to 17,019, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
However, a massive boom in data centre approvals across New South Wales and Victoria pushed the total value of all building approvals up 13.6% to a record $21 billion.
The context: ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said the dwelling approval fall was driven by a 10.4% decline in private dwellings, excluding houses, following a 4% rise in April.
However, he noted that private sector house approvals rose 2.8% to their highest level since September 2021. This marks the fourth consecutive month with over 10,000 private sector houses approved. However, apartment approvals fell 30% to 2,877 units.
The ABS data also showed that Western Australia and New South Wales remained the primary growth drivers for the rise in private sector housing, climbing 9.9% and 7.8% respectively. In contrast, Queensland private house approvals fell 3.6%.
Elsewhere, approved non-residential building values rose 41% to $10.8 billion driven by a surge in large data centre approvals located in New South Wales and Victoria.
