Although total dwelling approvals were up by 10.9 per cent in June reports, Master Builders Australia’s National Manager of Economics and Housing, Matthew Pollock believes the longer term trend shows sustained weakness.
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The total number of approvals was down by 2.3 per cent over the year to June, particularly for apartments.
Approvals for apartments and town houses fell by 6.6 per cent over the year-to-June 2017, while approvals for detached housing actually increased by 1.4 per cent.
“But there remains a housing shortage in Australia of around 100,000 dwellings,” Mr Pollock said. “It would be concerning if the current weakness in approvals turns into low housing commencements leading to supply constraints that can push up house prices”.