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{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationDetached house approvals reach 41 month high
Detached house approvals reach 41 month high
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics today released its monthly building approvals data for January 2026 for detached houses and multi-units covering all states and territories.
“This is the strongest monthly result for detached house approvals since September 2022,” added Mr Reardon.
“The pickup in detached house approvals in January was driven by increases in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.
“Housing demand in Australia remains robust, amid low levels of unemployment and strong levels of population growth.
“Established home prices continue to grow quickly compared to prices of other goods and services in the economy. This has helped some households opt to build a new home as an alternative.
“Renovations have also been a strong segment of the market, responding to this high demand. In the 12 months to January 2026, council-approved renovation work increased by 5.4 per cent to $1.265 billion.
“Multi-unit approvals, which include semi-detached dwellings and apartments, are volatile on a month-to-month basis.
“Multi-unit approvals decreased by 21.0 per cent in the month of January 2026, to 4,670. This result was driven by monthly declines in multi-unit approvals across all jurisdictions, except for Western Australia.
“The poor result in January 2026 does not significantly diminish the upwards trend in multi-unit approvals over the past 12 months, which have increased by 21.0 per cent to 79,130.
“The upwards trajectory in new dwelling approvals across Australia is notable, with a 9.2 per cent increase over the past 12 months to 193,480.
“In order to increase the supply of homes in Australia, governments need to help lower the cost of delivering new land to market,” concluded Mr Reardon.
In seasonally adjusted terms, Western Australia saw the largest increase in detached house approvals in the month of January 2026, up by 12.8 per cent compared to December. This was followed by Queensland (+2.9 per cent) and New South Wales (+1.2 per cent). South Australia recorded a 6.9 per cent monthly decline, while Victoria recorded a 4.6 per cent fall over the same period. In original terms, detached house approvals fell by 55.6 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory, followed by the Northern Territory (-53.3 per cent) and Tasmania (-25.0 per cent).
Monthly Building Approvals - Australia
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