Private sector house approvals fell 5.3% to 10,432 in September 2026, dropping in every state, even as a rebound in apartments lifted total dwelling approvals. Fresh figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show total approvals rose 5.1% to 17,948 in seasonally adjusted terms.
“The September fall in private sector house approvals is the largest since August 2025,” ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said.
The value of building approved rose 13% to $19.02 billion, but the gain came from outside housing. Non-residential approvals jumped 45.9% to $7.96 billion after a 45.5% fall in August, while residential building value slipped 2.8% to $11.06 billion.
“Much of the increase in non-residential approvals appears to have been driven by major data centre projects,” Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett said.
Approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses, a category covering townhouses, terraces, semi-detached homes, and apartments, rose 16.6% to 6,579, though the category remains 20.5% below its level a year earlier.
Apartments led the recovery. In original terms, apartment approvals rose 25.6% to 4,129, slightly above their 12-month average of 4,106.
Rossi said New South Wales “had the biggest rise in apartment approvals in September”, with 1,995 apartments approved, more than double the 901 in August.
The Property Council of Australia said total approvals in New South Wales rose 37.3% to 5,322 in seasonally adjusted terms, the highest since September 2025, with higher-density homes making up almost two-thirds.
Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson said the state would need around 7,900 approvals a month to meet its National Housing Accord target.
“September’s 5,322 approvals are a significant improvement, but they also show the scale of the task still ahead,” Stevenson said.
Despite September’s drop, the longer-term trend in detached housing remains firm. House approvals are 9.6% higher than a year earlier, and September was the ninth straight month in which more than 10,000 private sector houses were approved nationally.
That pipeline is building as the market softens, with Cotality’s October Home Value Index showing values fell 1.2% for a seventh straight month, despite what Cotality describes as a shortage of new homes being built.
For brokers with clients building or buying new detached homes, approvals remain comparatively strong. Investor interest in new homes has also held up better than in established stock, as investor demand for existing homes slumps after budget tax changes. Finance demand, however, is weakening, with Equifax data showing mortgage demand fell 19.2% year on year in September 2026.
The full state and territory breakdown is available in the ABS Building Approvals, Australia, September 2026 release.
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