Australia: new home approvals hits record high

Victoria, home to Melbourne, saw the biggest rise in new home approvals

New home approvals in Australia had their strongest year ever in 2015, reveal new figures.

ABS data shows that 232,078 new homes received approval for construction, 13.7 per cent higher than the record set by 2014 and "head and shoulders above every calendar year on record".

"New home building has been a crucial support to economic growth over the past two years, particularly in light of the mining investment downturn. The challenge during 2016 will be manage the transition to lower volumes of new home building in an orderly fashion,” commemts HIA Senior Economist Shane Garrett.

The figures suggest the "start of a downturn in activity", adds Garrett, as approvals dipped 4 per cent in the final quarter of 2015 compared to the previous three months.

"Multi-units accounted for a disproportionate share of the decline," he comments. Indeed, multi-units had the highest platform from which to fall, after the uneven growth in 2015 saw multi-unit approvals surge 30.2 per cent and detached house approvals edge up by just 1 per cent.

During December 2015, new home building approvals saw the largest increase in Victoria (37.4 per cent), followed by Western Australia (8.6 per cent) and New South Wales (2.1).