With immigration returning, Australia faces apartment shortages

Wednesday 11 May 2022

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released dwelling approval data for March, which registered a sharp 18.5% one month fall in approvals to be down 36% year-on-year:

According to the ABS, apartment approvals were tracking 60% below their November 2017 peak.

The next chart focuses on the high-rise segment only (i.e. 4 storeys or above) and shows that annual approvals were tracking way below peak across every major capital city market:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.