Australia Building Permits Jump 8.2% In December

(RTTNews) - The total number of housing permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at 17,698.

That was in line with expectations and up from 2.6 percent in November.

Approvals for private sector houses fell 1.8 percent on month to 10,444, while approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses surged 27.5 percent to 7,008.

The number of dwelling approvals rose in New South Wales (32.1 percent) and Victoria (2.5 percent). Dwelling approvals fell in Queensland (-14.8 percent), Western Australia (-7.7 percent), Tasmania (-7.4 percent), and South Australia (-0.3 percent).

On a yearly basis, overall approvals fell 7.5 percent, private sector houses tumbled 21.3 percent and dwellings excluding houses jumped 24.5 percent.