Australian Home-Building Approvals Rise in August

The number of Australian home-building permits rose by 0.4% in August from July, helped by a lift in apartment approvals.

Approvals to build or renovate houses and apartments declined by 15.5% from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

Private-sector house approvals fell by 0.6% in August from July, while apartment approvals rose by 4.8%.

Australia's housing market continues to be supported by strong population growth and record-low interest rates. Still, after years of robust construction activity, the sector appears to have passed its peak in activity.

The questions now are how will pockets of oversupply, especially apartments, affect the market and how deep will the slowdown become.

So far the signs are that it will remain reasonably shallow. There remains a strong pipeline of construction activity in the bigger states of New South Wales and Victoria.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep its cash rate target at 1.50% at a policy meeting later today. While recent economic data have been more positive, the RBA has indicated interest rate increases are still some way off.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2017 20:47 ET (00:47 GMT)