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New home building approvals have reached their highest level since records began in 1984.
There were a record 195,227 approvals for the 12 months to 31 July 2014, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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That included 16,318 approvals for July, which marked a 9.4 per cent increase on the previous year and a 2.5 per cent increase on the previous month.
Private sector housing approvals reached 9,459 – up 14 per cent annually and 1.4 per cent monthly.
There were also 6,652 approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses – up 6.3 per cent on the year and 5.9 per cent on the month.
Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett said building approvals had reached an even higher level than during the 1994 building boom.
“Despite this achievement, there have been signs of slowdown in new home building approvals over the past six months,” he said.
“It is also worth bearing in mind that the bulk of the July increase was driven by an exceptional large expansion in Western Australia.”
Mr Garrett said all levels of government would need to introduce better housing policies if new home building was to remain healthy.
[Related: Sydney prices jump 17pc to new record high]
