The November 2017 housing approval data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicates that housing supply is slowing in NSW, while it’s booming in Victoria, according to the Urban Taskforce.

“Victoria with 6,689 home approvals is leading NSW with 5,953 approvals in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) November 2017 trend data, said Chris Johnson, CEO of the Urban Taskforce. “NSW is twenty percent bigger than Victoria in population so the Victorian performance is impressive. The fundamental difference between the two states seems to be the larger number of detached houses being approved in Victoria with 3,266 approvals compared to 2,373 in NSW.” 

Apartment approvals in Victoria and NSW were similar, with 3,423 in the former and 3,580 in the latter. The NSW high density approvals are well down from the July 2017 high point of 4,366 approvals.

“The Victorian approvals for non-residential development for November 2017 were $1,341,750,000 … well above the NSW approvals at $1,151,314,000,” Johnson said.

“The data correlates with a slowing down of home sales and planning approvals in Sydney with a clear downward trend since the high point in July 2017. It will be important for the NSW Government to carefully monitor the downward trend, particularly in the Sydney Market.”

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