The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released data on residential building approvals for Victoria for June in which it shows a fall in the total number of buildings approved. This has largely been in the high-density market, a sector that is usually quite volatile during challenging economic conditions.

In seasonally adjusted terms, there was a total of 14,533 buildings approved for the three months to June, a decline of 9.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Of the total approved, 9336 houses and 5197 multi-units were approved, an increase of 1 per cent and a sharp decrease of 24.2 per cent respectively compared to the previous quarter.

The current economic slowdown, combined with the new Stage 4 restrictions, means we expect building approvals numbers to decline further in the coming months. However, stimulus measures like HomeBuilder may cushion this in the months to come.