Australia Building Approvals Jump 12.0% In September

(RTTNews) - The total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 12.0 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 17,019.

That beat forecasts for an increase of 5.1 percent following the upwardly revised 3.6 percent drop in August (originally -6.0 percent).

On a yearly basis, approvals were up 12.4 percent after slipping 0.7 percent in the previous month.

Approvals for private sector houses rose 4.0 percent on month and was flat on year at 9,547, while approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses surged 26.0 percent on month and 55.2 percent on year at 7,219.

The value of total residential building rose 7.4 percent to A$10.11 billion, while the value of total non-residential building fell 19.3 percent to A$6.39 billion.