Australian Home-Building Approvals Fell in May

The number of Australian home building permits fell 5.6% in May from April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Monday, as a slowdown in housing construction deepens.

Approvals to build or renovate houses and apartments declined 19.7% from a year earlier, the ABS said.

In April, building approvals rose by 4.8%.

Permits to build houses rose 0.6% from a month earlier, while approvals for apartments and other dwellings fell 12.1%.

Australian residential building construction has begun to slow after years of strength that was led by a surge in the building of apartments. Rising home loan interest rates and regulatory clamps on lending to property investors are also curbing housing demand and dampening recent price growth.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 02, 2017 21:51 ET (01:51 GMT)