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Kooky
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About Kooky and Shaka →Apartment approvals in Queensland fell by three-quarters in a single month. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday 30 September that 337 apartments were approved in the State in August, compared with 1,330 in July, and said Queensland recorded the steepest fall in apartment approvals of any state.
The effect on the State's total was large. Queensland approved 3,327 dwellings in August in seasonally adjusted terms, 22.5 per cent fewer than in July and the biggest monthly fall of any state.
Houses up, everything else down
The month split cleanly in two. Private sector house approvals in Queensland rose 6.5 per cent to 2,456, seasonally adjusted. Houses therefore made up about 74 per cent of all dwellings approved in the State in August. In July, on the figures the Bureau first published, they were 53 per cent.
| Measure | July | August | Monthly change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total dwellings, seasonally adjusted | 4,200 | 3,327 | -22.5% |
| Private houses, seasonally adjusted | 2,239 | 2,456 | +6.5% |
| Apartments | 1,330 | 337 | -74.7% |
| Total dwellings, trend | 4,361 | 4,462 | +1.0% |
Source: ABS Building Approvals, July and August 2026 releases. July figures are as first published on 1 September; the Bureau's monthly changes are measured against revised July estimates, so they differ from the change between the two columns. The apartment change is calculated from the two counts in the August media release.
The revisions are worth a sentence. A fall of 22.5 per cent to 3,327 implies a July total of about 4,290, some 90 more than the 4,200 first published, and a rise of 6.5 per cent to 2,456 implies about 2,310 houses in July, against 2,239 at first count. July was a slightly stronger month than it first appeared, which makes the August drop a little steeper.
The same pattern appeared nationally, less sharply. Across Australia, total approvals fell 6.1 per cent to 16,953. Private houses rose 3.7 per cent to 10,885, and private dwellings other than houses fell 21.2 per cent to 5,674. In original terms, the Bureau says, apartment approvals fell 24.9 per cent to 3,268 and townhouse approvals fell 20.7 per cent to 2,546.
Related readQueensland has built 24 per cent of its Housing Accord share so farQueensland's 993 fewer apartments were most of that national movement. A fall of 24.9 per cent to 3,268 puts the national apartment count for July at about 4,350, so the country approved roughly 1,080 fewer apartments in August, and Queensland's decline is equivalent to about nine-tenths of that. The State went from close to a third of the nation's apartment approvals in July to about a tenth in August.
Other states moved in both directions. Total approvals fell 17.3 per cent in New South Wales, to 3,896, and rose 8.9 per cent in Victoria, to 5,163, and 24.0 per cent in South Australia, to 1,701. Western Australia rose 3.2 per cent to 2,395. Queensland, third among the states in July, remained third in August, but the distance to Victoria widened to more than 1,800 dwellings.
One month in a lumpy series
Apartment approvals arrive in large blocks. A tower is approved on one day and adds hundreds of dwellings to that month's count. A month without a large project looks like a collapse, and the following month can reverse it.
The apartment counts are raw monthly numbers
The ABS reports apartments and townhouses in original terms, without seasonal adjustment or smoothing. It defines an apartment as a dwelling without its own private grounds that usually shares an entrance, foyer or stairwell. Any month's figures may be revised in later releases.
The national figures give a sense of the normal range. The Bureau says August's 3,268 apartments were 19.8 per cent below the average of 4,074 for the previous twelve months. A month earlier, July's count had been 6.8 per cent above the twelve-month average. The series moved from one side of its average to the other in a single release.
The trend series, which smooths those swings, moved the other way in August. The Queensland Government Statistician's Office reported on 30 September that trend approvals in Queensland rose 1.0 per cent to 4,462, and were 18.2 per cent higher than in August 2025. Queensland accounted for 24.5 per cent of all dwellings approved in Australia on that measure, up from 23.7 per cent in July. Nationally the trend fell 0.8 per cent in the month, to 18,202, the Bureau's release shows.
Related readFewer units approved in May as Queensland houses keep their paceThe share has now risen in three consecutive monthly summaries from the Statistician's Office, from 21.6 per cent for May to 23.4 per cent for June, 23.7 per cent for July and 24.5 per cent for August. The annual growth rate has gone the other way since its peak, from 24.7 per cent for June to 20.0 per cent for July and 18.2 per cent for August, while remaining high.
Trend approvals of private sector houses in Queensland rose 0.3 per cent in August to 2,394, the office reports, 22.3 per cent of the national figure.
How the states compare over three months
The Housing Industry Association measures approvals over three months to reduce the noise, and its comparison tells a similar story of Queensland slowing from a strong position. It said on 30 September that Queensland approvals in the three months to August were 12.8 per cent higher than a year earlier. For the three months to July its figure was 24.0 per cent.
Source: Housing Industry Association, 30 September 2026, from ABS Building Approvals.
Queensland went from the strongest of the five mainland states on that measure to the fourth. New South Wales moved the other way, from a fall of 1.3 per cent in the three months to July to a rise in the latest period, even though its August total was sharply lower.
The comparison shows how much a single month can shift a three-month figure when it replaces a strong one. It also shows that every mainland state the association reports is still approving more homes than a year ago.
Houses at a five-year high nationally
The house figures carry the better news. The Housing Industry Association said national house approvals in August were the highest in five years, and that approvals over the three months to August were 14.6 per cent above the same period a year earlier. The Bureau notes that private sector house approvals have now exceeded 10,000 for eight consecutive months and were 18.4 per cent higher than in August 2025.
Related readHousing infrastructure fund's second round is doubled to $1 billionQueensland's 2,456 private house approvals were second only to Victoria's 3,044 and ahead of New South Wales, at 2,167. South Australia recorded the largest monthly rise, 27.7 per cent to 1,036, and Western Australia rose 8.6 per cent to 1,895. New South Wales was the only state the Bureau singles out for a fall, of 4.5 per cent.
By value, the Bureau reports, residential building approved across Australia slipped 0.6 per cent in August to $11.30 billion. Non-residential building fell 44.8 per cent to $5.53 billion after a very strong July, taking the value of all building approved down 21.3 per cent to $16.82 billion. In Queensland, the Statistician's Office puts the trend value of residential building approved at $2,600.6 million, down 3.4 per cent in the month, and non-residential at $1,584.8 million, up 2.7 per cent.
The association also points to weakness further down the line. New home sales have fallen for four consecutive months, it says, and by August were down nearly 20 per cent over the quarter. Its New Home Sales report of 15 September put the Queensland fall at 20.2 per cent for the three months to August against the previous three. Approvals reflect decisions buyers made months ago; sales reflect decisions being made now. The association expects the work already sold to sustain building through the rest of 2026, with the effect of higher interest rates and tax changes appearing in commencements in 2027.
What the August figures do and do not show
August does not show that Queensland's apartment pipeline has stopped. It shows a month in which 337 apartments were approved, after one in which 1,330 were. Two or three more months of low apartment approvals would be a different matter, and the trend series would then begin to turn.
The plans on the table are large. On 17 September the Queensland Government proposed lifting height limits in the Bowen Hills Priority Development Area to 50 storeys, for a planned capacity of up to 27,000 homes, and on 6 September Economic Development Queensland named five developers for nearly 2,200 homes at Northshore Hamilton, with construction expected from mid-2028. Projects of that kind enter the Bureau's count only when a permit is issued, which is why capacity announced in one year can be absent from the approvals of the next.
The figures do underline how much of Queensland's approvals strength over the past year has depended on apartments. When they are missing from a month, the total falls by more than a fifth even while house approvals rise. For a State counting on inner-city towers and Priority Development Areas for much of its new housing, the apartment line in the Bureau's next monthly release is the one to watch.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
