New unit, townhouse and apartment construction starts dipped to the lowest level in a year and a half in September, in the latest sign that developers are holding off on new projects in the face of rising supply and financing constraints.
Multi-residential dwelling commencements slipped 0.7 per cent to a seasonally-adjusted 25,202 in the third quarter, the second consecutive decline, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed on Wednesday.
It was small dip after June's 21 per cent drop in commencements, but backed up the picture of a high-rise sector that is not taking on new projects as existing ones are completed.
Quarterly figures can be volatile, as they are influenced by the timing of individual projects, but the longer-term picture illustrates an easing sector.
In the 12 months to September, total commencements in the 'other residential' category, which excludes houses, slowed to 110,721 from June. This was 9 per cent above the 101,596 commencements of September 2015, but the pace of gain is slowing.
The 115,049 new multi-residential starts in the year to March 2016 marked a 27 per cent increase on the total a year earlier.
Commencements of new standalone houses fell 1.8 per cent over the quarter to 29,634.
Total housing commencements fell 2.8 per cent to 55,070.
