Yesterday’s building approvals data from the ABS should be encouraging for the Queensland building industry because they signal a recovery in housing construction, just as approvals of new apartment stock are declining. Approvals of private houses are trending upwards (first chart below), although the decline in approvals of apartments  – no doubt due to the big increase in supply expected in the next few years – means that total approvals remained flat in July (second chart below).

I expect housing approvals will continue to rise, particularly in the Brisbane metro area’s western corridor out through Ipswich, as I’ve posted on before (Ipswich will play important role in eventual recovery of Qld building industry). With house prices starting to increase in Brisbane again, I expect many people will start to look for cheaper housing in outer suburbs (see today’s Brisbane Times article, Brisbane house prices jump due to limited supply).

Other commentary on yesterday’s building approvals data includes:

Dwelling approvals bounce back at MacroBusiness

Mixed bag building approvals from Pete Faulkner