Building Activity, Australia

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Provides estimates of value of building work and number of dwellings commenced, completed, under construction and in the pipeline

Reference period
March 2020
Released
15/07/2020

Key statistics

  • Trend estimate of total building work done fell 1.1%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done fell 0.5%. 
  • Trend estimate for total number of dwelling units commenced rose 1.2%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimate for total number of dwelling units commenced rose 3.8%.

Main features

March key figures

Value of work done, chain volume measures

 Mar qtr 20Dec qtr 19 to Mar qtr 20Mar qtr 19 to Mar qtr 20
 $m% change% change
Trend estimates(a)
Value of work done29 217.2-1.1-5.5
New residential building15 090.9-2.8-12.7
Alterations and additions to residential building2 323.51.41.8
Non-residential building11 790.50.73.9
Seasonally adjusted estimates(a)
Value of work done29 194.4-0.5-7.1
New residential building15 199.8-1.0-12.8
Alterations and additions to residential building2 334.02.13.1
Non-residential building11 660.7-0.3-0.6

a. Reference year for chain volume measures is 2017-18

 

Building work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of total building work done fell 1.1% in the March quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building work done fell 0.5% to $29,194.4m following a fall of 3.3% in the December quarter.
     

New residential building work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of new residential building work done fell 2.8% in the March quarter. The value of work done on new houses fell 1.3%, while new other residential building fell 4.8%.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of new residential building work done fell 1.0% to $15,199.8m. Work done on new houses rose 2.1% to $8,726.1m, while new other residential building fell 4.9% to $6,473.6m.
     

Non-residential work done

  • The trend estimate of the value of non-residential building work done rose 0.7% in the March quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of non-residential building work done in the quarter fell 0.3% following a fall of 1.9% in the December quarter.
     

Dwelling units commenced

 Mar qtr 20Dec qtr 19 to Mar qtr 20Mar qtr 19 to Mar qtr 20
 no.% change% change
Trend estimates
Total dwelling units commenced43 3121.2-6.4
New private sector houses24 9850.3-8.3
New private sector other residential building17 6383.1-2.7
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Total dwelling units commenced44 4343.8-1.6
New private sector houses25 2291.2-10.7
New private sector other residential building18 5217.713.6

 

 

Total dwellings

  • The trend estimate for the total number of dwelling units commenced rose 1.2% in the March quarter following a fall of 0.1% in the December quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for the total number of dwelling units commenced rose 3.8% to 44,434 dwellings in the March quarter following a rise of 4.5% in the December quarter.
     

New private sector houses

  • The trend estimate for new private sector house commencements rose 0.3% in the March quarter following a fall of 1.5% in the December quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for new private sector house commencements rose 1.2% to 25,229 dwellings in the March quarter following a fall of 0.2% in the December quarter.
     

New private sector other residential building

  • The trend estimate for new private sector other residential building commencements rose 3.1% in the March quarter following a rise of 2.4% in the December quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for new private sector other residential building rose 7.7% to 18,521 dwellings in the March quarter following a rise of 13.8% in the December quarter.
     

Significant revisions this issue

Compared to the estimate published in Building Activity, Australia December 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0) released on 15 April 2020:

  • the total value of work done in Australia during the December 2019 quarter has been revised upwards by $557.3m or 1.8%.
  • the total value of work commenced in Australia during the December 2019 quarter has been revised upwards $1,636.7m or 6.0%. This was driven by an upward revision to total residential commencements of $1,148.0m (7.0%), and an upward revision to total non-residential commencements of $488.8m (4.5%).
  • the number of dwelling unit commencements in the December 2019 quarter has been revised upwards by 986 dwellings or 2.3%.
     

Data note

For the March Building Activity release each year, the ABS publishes revisions that have been made to Building Activity data prior to the December quarter. In this release, revisions have been provided back to September 2015. A feature article has been included in the December 2015 Building Activity, Australia (cat no. 8752.0) publication explaining potential sources of revisions in more detail.

Several time series spreadsheets contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations from the September quarter 2012 onwards. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.

The ABS is currently monitoring for potential impacts from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on construction activity statistics and will continue to do so for the period of the pandemic.

Quality assurance of March quarter data did not identify any impact to headline statistics. The designation of construction as an essential service enabled activity to progress despite social distancing restrictions implemented from late March. Since it takes some time to approve and commence an application for building construction work, there will be a lag between any change in demand, the number of applications and subsequent impacts on new work.

The ABS is actively managing the potential risks from COVID-19 to data collection operations. The ABS appreciates the support of survey respondents in continuing to provide the data to compile this publication.

Inquiries

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Article archive

Telling storeys - Apartment building heights, December quarter 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Characteristics of new residential dwellings - A 15 year summary, December quarter 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Abandonment rates for new dwellings, June quarter 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Average dwelling commencement times, June quarter 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Average dwelling completion times, June quarter 2019 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Revisions to building activity statistics, December quarter 2015 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Average floor area of new residential dwellings, June quarter 2013 (cat. no. 8752.0)

A twenty year history of the cost of building a new house, December quarter 2008 (cat. no. 8752.0)

Additional Building and Construction feature articles can be found in Feature Articles by Catalogue Number

Data downloads - time series spreadsheets

Table 01. Value of building work done by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 02. Value of building work done by sector, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 03. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 04. Value of residential building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 05. Value of building work commenced by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 06. Value of building work commenced by sector, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 07. Value of residential building work commenced by sector, Australia - chain volume measures

Table 08. Value of residential building work commenced, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 09. Value of building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures

Table 10. Value of building work done, states and territories - chain volume measures: original

Table 11. Value of building work commenced, states and territories - chain volume measures: original

Table 12. Value of building work done by sector, Australia

Table 13. Value of building work done by sector, New South Wales

Table 14. Value of building work done by sector, Victoria

Table 15. Value of building work done by sector, Queensland

Table 16. Value of building work done by sector, South Australia

Table 17. Value of building work done by sector, Western Australia

Table 18. Value of building work done by sector, Tasmania

Table 19. Value of building work done by sector, Northern Territory

Table 20. Value of building work done by sector, Australian Capital Territory

Table 21. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australia

Table 22. Value of residential building work done by sector, New South Wales

Table 23. Value of residential building work done by sector, Victoria

Table 24. value of residential building work done by sector, Queensland

Table 25. Value of residential building work done by sector, South Australia

Table 26. Value of residential building work done by sector, Western Australia

Table 27. Value of residential building work done by sector, Tasmania

Table 28. Value of residential building work done by sector, Northern Territory

Table 29. Value of residential building work done by sector, Australian Capital Territory

Table 30. Value of building work commenced by sector, Australia

Table 31. Value of residential building work commenced by sector, Australia

Table 32. Value of total building work done, states and territories

Table 33. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, Australia

Table 34. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, states and territories

Table 35. Number of dwelling unit commencements, states and territories

Table 36. Number of dwelling unit commencements by sector, states and territories: original

Table 37. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, Australia

Table 38. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, states and territories

Table 39. Number of dwelling unit completions by sector, states and territories: original

Table 40. Value of building work by sector, Australia: original

Table 41. Value of building work by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 42. Value of building work by sector, Victoria: original

Table 43. Value of building work by sector, Queensland: original

Table 44. Value of building work by sector, South Australia: original

Table 45. Value of building work by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 46. Value of building work by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 47. Value of building work by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 48. Value of building work by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 49. Value of building work under construction, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 50. Value of building work yet to be done, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 51. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Australia: original

Table 52. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 53. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Victoria: original

Table 54. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Queensland: original

Table 55. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, South Australia: original

Table 56. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 57. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 58. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 59. Value of non-residential building work done, by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 60. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Australia: original

Table 61. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, New South Wales: original

Table 62. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Victoria: original

Table 63. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Queensland: original

Table 64. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, South Australia: original

Table 65. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Western Australia: original

Table 66. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Tasmania: original

Table 67. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Northern Territory: original

Table 68. Value of non-residential building work commenced, by sector, Australian Capital Territory: original

Table 69. Value of non-residential building work under construction, by sector, Australia: original

Table 70. Value of non-residential building work under construction, states and territories: original

Table 71. Value of non-residential building work completed, by sector, Australia: original

Table 72. Value of non-residential building work completed, states and territories: original

Table 73. Value of non-residential building work yet to be done, by sector, Australia: original

Table 74. Value of non-residential building work yet to be done, states and territories: original

Table 75. Value of building work completed by sector, Australia

Table 76. Number of dwelling units under construction, by sector, Australia: original

Table 77. Number of dwelling units under construction, by sector, states and territories: original

Table 78. Value of work in the pipeline, current prices, original, Australia

Table 79. Value of work in the pipeline, states and territories, current prices, original

Table 80. Number of dwellings approved but not yet commenced at end of quarter, states and territories, original

All time series workbooks

Data downloads - data cubes

I-note

Relative standard errors, value by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia

Relative standard errors, dwellings by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia

Relative standard errors; non-residential building by sector and stage of construction, state and Australia

Relative standard errors; value of work in pipeline; state and Australia

Building activity: validation table for data cube

Data items available by Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Building activity: Australia

All data cubes

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8752.0.

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