Australian Home-Building Approvals Fell in July

SYDNEY – The number of Australian home building permits fell in July from June led by renewed weakness in approvals for apartments.

Approvals to build or renovate houses and apartments declined 1.7% in July from June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

In June, approvals rose by 11.7%.

Approvals in July fell 13.9% from a year earlier, the statistician said.

Permits to build houses were unchanged from a month earlier, while approvals for apartments fell 6.7%.

While diverse in character from region to region, Australia's housing market is showing signs of being oversupplied in some key markets, especially in the area of apartments.

A building boom has been underway in the apartment space for some time as Australians have made as shift toward more high rise living, closer to central business districts.

A drop in new apartment sales in July contributed to a continuing decline in Australian new-home sales, according to the Housing Industry Association released on Tuesday.

Amid a 16% slide in multi-unit sales, volumes declined 3.7% from June--adding to a steady drop since new-home sales peaked 2 years ago.

The HIA data showed affordability is an issue, coming amid many warnings that stellar price gains in recent years had become unsustainable.

-Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 29, 2017 21:50 ET (01:50 GMT)