Housing crisis deepens as approvals collapse to 13-year low

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The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released dwelling approvals data for April, which collapsed to their lowest level since 2012.

Total dwelling approvals fell 8.1% in April to be down 24.1% year-on-year.

Private sector house approvals fell 3.8% month-on-month to be 18.6% lower year-on-year.

Units fell 16.5% month-on-month to be down 35.4% year-on-year.

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Dwelling approvals

Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: “total dwellings approved fell to the lowest level since April 2012”.

“The overall decline was driven by a fall in approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses, which fell 16.5%, to the lowest level since January 2012”.

The next chart plots the decline in trend terms, with total approvals collapsing to February 2012 lows:

Dwelling approvals trend
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The next chart plots the decline in approvals across the major jurisdictions, with the sharpest falls occurring across NSW and Victoria:

Dwelling approvals by state

The above results are an unmitigated disaster for Australia given it has coincided with record net overseas migration (NOM), with the federal projecting 715,000 NOM in the two years to 2023-24:

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May 2023 NOM

Source: 2023 federal budget

It is especially concerning for NSW and Victoria, which will receive the lion’s share of these overseas migrants.

The only outcome from the Albanese Government’s extreme immigration policy is a worsening housing crisis, soaring rents, and rising homelessness.

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It is an inequality disaster in the making.

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.