Where can I find data about building approvals?

Building Approvals data are sourced from the ABS, and originally provided by local councils and third party organisations who approve new developments. They refer to properties with building (not planning) permits issued.

Building approvals data in Housing Monitor 

Building Approvals can be found in Housing Monitor, housing.id, under the Housing Supply section.

The first approvals chart stacks houses against other types by year to June, and is updated bi-monthly. The map below shows where approvals are located across the LGA, by SA1, represented quarterly, by total, house or unit. 

These figures include the NUMBER of dwelling units approved (broken into houses and other). In this case, a block of 50 apartments would count as 50 in the data. 

Building approvals data in Community Profile

Building approvals data can be found in our community profiles, profile.id, under the “Post-Census updates” section.

These are updated approximately quarterly, and include the NUMBER of dwelling units approved (broken into houses and other). In this case, a block of 50 apartments would count as 50 in the data.

Building approvals data in Economic Profile

You can also find building approvals data in our economic profiles, economy.id, under the ‘Economic Indicators” section. Here, they are shown by the value of approval (in millions of $).

These are broken into residential and non-residential approvals. The same block of 50 apartments would appear in this dataset as the value which is approved for construction (eg. $10 million). 

All of these datasets are shown for the Local Government Area or region level on the site. More detailed building approvals data including a breakdown of location, dwelling structure and type of non-residential building, can be sourced from the ABS.