Australian Home-Building Approvals Rise

The number of Australian home building permits rose 4.4% in April from March, rebounding after a hefty slump in the prior month.

The recovery was led by a 9.6% jump in approvals for new apartments during the month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Permits to build houses rose 0.5% from a month earlier.

Economists had expected approvals to rise by 3.0% over the month. In March, building approvals dropped by 10.3%.

A boom in housing construction is peaking in Australia, economists say, with a heavy supply of new apartments in particular expected to damp growth in house prices over coming months.

Approvals to build or renovate houses and apartments declined 17.2% in April from a year earlier, the ABS said.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 29, 2017 21:53 ET (01:53 GMT)