The number of dwellings approved in Australia fell by 1.9 per cent in September 2018 in trend terms, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

"The fall was mainly driven by private dwellings excluding houses, which decreased by 2.7 per cent in September," said Daniel Rossi, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS. "Private sector houses also fell, by 1.5 per cent."

Among the states and territories, dwelling approvals fell in September in the Australian Capital Territory (8.4 per cent), Northern Territory (6.9 per cent), South Australia (3.9 per cent), Queensland (2.3 per cent), Western Australia (2.1 per cent), New South Wales (1.3 per cent) and Victoria (1.0 per cent) in trend terms. Tasmania was the only state to see an increase in dwelling approvals (1.5 per cent) in trend terms.

Approvals for private sector houses fell 1.5 per cent in September in trend terms. Private sector house approvals fell in Queensland (3.1 per cent), South Australia (3.0 per cent), Western Australia (2.2 per cent) and Victoria (1.7 per cent). New South Wales recorded an increase of 0.5 per cent.