Dwelling approvals in Queensland fell 8.8 percent in May as early signs emerge of market wobbles following tax changes in the Federal Budget.
The Queensland fall included a 3.6 percent drop in private sector housing approvals. This was the largest fall in Australia but came off the back of a five-year high in April.
Nationally there were mixed results in the seasonally adjusted data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Overall dwellings approved fell 1.1 percent in May despite ongoing efforts from all governments to boost the housing supply.
ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said the fall in total dwellings approved nationally was driven by a 10.4 percent fall in private dwellings excluding houses, after a 4.0 percent April rise.
“Private sector house approvals rose 2.8 percent, to the highest level since September 2021,” he said.
“This is the fourth consecutive month with over 10,000 private sector houses approved.”
The trend was not consistent, with Western Australia up 9.9 percent in private dwellings, NSW up 7.8 percent and Victoria up 2.2 percent while Queensland was down 3.6 percent and SA down one percent.
The total number of dwellings approved is 5.3 percent higher in year-on-year terms.
Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 10.4 percent to 6034 dwellings. The May result is 8.6 percent lower in year-on-year terms.
The value of total buildings approved rose 13.6 percent, to an all-time high of $21.07 billion, after gaining 7.9 percent in April.
The property industry has reported widespread uncertainty after major changes to negative gearing Capital Gains Tax were announced in the May budget.
Auctions clearance rates have dropped and there have been reports of house price drops, particularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
The full results are here.
