Monthly construction approvals for detached houses in Australia hit a five year high in April. 

Approvals rose by 4.7% for the month, which saw approval granted for more than 10,000 new houses. 

“During April, detached house approvals rose by 4.7% in seasonally-adjusted terms to reach 10,264,” Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett said.

“This represents the highest monthly total for detached house approvals since February 2010.”

While approvals for detached houses climbed in April, poor multi-unit approvals meant the number of total new dwellings approved in the month fell 4.4% to 18,715. 

Multi-unit approvals were down 13.6% for the month of April. 

During April, new dwelling approvals only increased in Tasmania (29.8%) and the ACT (8.4%).

Approvals declined in all the other states, with the largest monthly reductions occurring in NSW (14.6%), Queensland (14.2%) and in South Australia (10.3%). 

New dwelling approvals also declined in the Northern Territory (6.2%), Western Australia (3.0%) and in Victoria (2.2%).