Building Approvals Drop

New home building approvals fell in October, to be 1.8% lower than 12 months ago.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows approvals were down by 6.4% during October.

Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett says higher density approvals experienced a particularly sharp drop of -12.1% in the month.

Despite this, he says detached house building approvals are still higher than a year ago.

Garrett says the data shows Australia is well off what it needs to produce in terms of housing, with only 192,000 homes approved over the year to October 2025.

“Housing affordability has recently deteriorated to its worst on record. Our failure to build enough new homes will exacerbate this situation further.”

He says home owners instead appear to be improving their existing properties, with major home renovation approvals up by 3.5%.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn says builders are struggling to make the numbers work.

“Without urgent action to ease pressures and restore confidence, more projects will stall before they even start,” she says.