Building approvals fall 24%

The number of home building approvals remains at low levels, pointing to a shortage of new housing in the not-too-distant future.

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A total of 13,085 approvals were issued in December, which was 9.5% lower than the previous month and 24.0% lower than the previous year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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Over the past 15 years, an average of 16,040 approvals have been issued each month – and approvals numbers have now been below this long-term average for 12 consecutive months.

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With Australia’s population growing strongly, so too is demand for housing, but supply is struggling to keep up.