WA dwelling approvals fall 8.7% in September to 2,206, ABS says

The monthly series is volatile, which is why the ABS also publishes a trend line. On that measure, WA’s total dwelling approvals rose 1.0% to 2,298 in September. A seasonally adjusted fall and a trend rise can both be true in the same month, and the trend figure smooths out the swings.

The numbers

The ABS seasonally adjusted state table puts WA at 2,206 total dwelling units approved for September, an 8.7% monthly fall. Private sector houses, the biggest part of the state’s approvals, came in at 1,832, down 4.6%.

Most other states recorded sharper moves in the total. Victoria fell 28.9% to 3,694 and Tasmania fell 25.7% to 197. New South Wales rose 37.3% to 5,322 and Queensland rose 28.0% to 4,382. South Australia, the exception, slipped 3.2% to 1,646 (see our earlier South Australian approvals report).

On private sector houses, the ABS reports a fall in every state with a published figure. Declines were 7.8% in South Australia, 6.0% in Victoria, 5.5% in New South Wales, 5.1% in Queensland and 4.6% in Western Australia. WA’s house drop was therefore the smallest of the five.

In trend terms, WA private sector houses rose 1.9% to 1,852. That was the strongest trend gain among the states for which the ABS publishes house figures, ahead of South Australia at 1.8% and Queensland at 0.4%. New South Wales and Victoria both fell on that measure.

Nationally, the ABS says private sector houses fell 5.3% to 10,432 in September, while private sector dwellings excluding houses, such as apartments and townhouses, rose 16.6% to 6,579. The ABS lists the value of residential building approved as down 2.8% to A$11.06 billion, and non-residential building approved as up 45.9% to A$7.96 billion.

What’s next

The ABS lists further Building Approvals releases on its calendar, including the October 2026 data in December.

The Australian Developer will report the next ABS state figures when they are published.