Urban Taskforce Australia CEO, Tom Forrest, said today that ABS housing data for new dwelling construction approvals across Australia in April 2026 shows a drop of 3.5% in new dwelling approvals from the prior month of March 2026.
The worrying factor here is not the level of the drop off in approvals, which at 3.5% is fairly modest, but more what we expect is coming with the impact of the three interest rate rises and the cost pressures associated with the war in Iran which are yet to be reflected in the numbers.
All the politicians told us that it takes time to turn the planning systems of Australia around – and we were starting to see progress. For that to be dropping off now, even before the impact of rate rises and the war have flowed through to the numbers, spells concern.
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