Australia: Dwelling approvals pull back - Westpac

Australia’s dwelling approvals retraced 6.2% in Feb, giving back about two fifths of the 17.2% jump in Jan and the result was below market expectations of a 5% decline but should be considered broadly in line given the extreme volatility in recent months, explains Matthew Hassan, Research Analyst at Westpac.

Key Quotes

“Total dwelling approvals over the three months to Feb are up 1.2% over the same period last year.”

“The detail showed a slightly sharper than expected reversal in high rise approvals and a slightly weaker than expected gain for non high rise approvals.”

“High rise volatility, flat approvals in other segments and divergent state performances continue to make it difficult to pick out an overarching trend nationally. We continue to expect a further weakening in approvals to emerge in 2018 but it has yet to show through in the official figures.”