Building approvals for detached houses reached their highest monthly level since August 2021 in June, according to Housing Industry Association Chief Economist Tim Reardon, citing the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Detached house approvals rose 1.1 per cent in June to 10,870, while multi‑unit approvals jumped 17.7 per cent to 7,460, according to ABS figures for June released on 30 July.
Across the 2025/26 financial year, 121,140 detached houses were approved nationally, up 7.0 per cent on the previous year. Multi‑unit approvals for the year totalled 83,510, a rise of 10.5 per cent.
Tim said the figures reflect strong underlying demand.
“Detached housing approvals continue to trend up, as the underlying demand for housing exceeds supply,” Tim said.
But he cautioned the approvals pipeline is a lagging indicator that does not yet capture recent economic shifts.
“There are long lags between changes in market conditions and building approvals. The impact of rising interest rates, global conflict and tax increases are unlikely to be observed in approvals data until late this year,” Tim said.
“While leading indicators of confidence have deteriorated since the Budget, and investors are expected to withdraw from the new home building market, this won’t impact approvals for some months yet.”
Tim linked the figures to the broader affordability picture, calling for policy support rather than added costs for the industry.
“With housing affordability at its worst levels in over 30 years, it is more important than ever that policymakers support housing investment and development by reducing the costs of home building, not increasing them,” Tim said.
State by state, seasonally adjusted detached house approvals for 2025/26 rose most sharply in Western Australia, up 11.0 per cent on the previous financial year, followed by New South Wales (+10.5 per cent), Queensland (+8.6 per cent) and Victoria (+3.2 per cent). South Australia was the only state to record a decline, down 1.5 per cent. In original terms, the ACT (+14.5 per cent), the Northern Territory (+14.4 per cent) and Tasmania (+11.9 per cent) posted the strongest annual growth.
Multi‑unit approvals told a different story regionally. Queensland led seasonally adjusted growth at 49.6 per cent, ahead of South Australia (+19.8 per cent), Western Australia (+11.2 per cent) and New South Wales (+2.4 per cent), while Victoria fell 9.0 per cent. In original terms, Tasmania more than doubled its multi‑unit approvals (+111.1 per cent), followed by the ACT (+51.0 per cent) and the Northern Territory (+39.4 per cent).