New home building approvals down 6.4 per cent in October

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows new home building approvals dropped by 6.4 per cent during October – and are 1.8 per cent down on a year earlier.

Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett said during the month, there was a 2.0 per cent reduction in new detached house building approvals.

“Higher density approvals suffered a particularly sharp reverse (-12.1 per cent) during October.

“Despite October’s slip, new detached house building approvals are still marginally up (+1.2 per cent) on a year ago. However, higher density approvals are lower than they were 12 months ago (-5.9 per cent).

“During the National Housing Accord’s first year, we built 60,000 fewer homes than needed. This means that an average of 255,000 new homes per year must be produced over the Accord’s remaining 4 years.

“We remain far from this calibre of housing output: today’s figures show less than 192,000 new homes were 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.

“There was better news for major home renovations during October, with the value of approvals up by 3.5 per cent.

“The value of non-residential building approvals expanded by 11.6 per cent in October,” Mr Garrett concluded.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said: “there is a clear gap between policy ambition and reality, with approvals going backwards, not forwards.

“Builders are struggling to make the numbers work. Construction costs have jumped more than 40 per cent since 2019, and rising finance and insurance costs are pushing too many projects off the table.

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

Media contact: Dee Zegarac, National Director, External Affairs & Engagement
0400 493 071 | dee.zegarac@masterbuilders.com.au