In the year to June 2026, 205,593 dwellings were approved in Australia, 204,440 were commenced and 180,501 were completed. Commencements have exceeded completions in each of the last six quarters, and the number of dwellings under construction rose in each, from 213,322 at December 2024 to 248,733 at June 2026, the highest since the ABS series began in 1984. Commencements in 2025 were the highest for a calendar year since 2021; completions, at 173,226, were the lowest since 2013.
Counts are dwelling units, all sectors, new buildings and alterations and conversions, from the ABS.
Four measures, two collections
The ABS records the dwelling pipeline in two collections. Building Approvals counts dwelling units in building jobs approved by councils and other authorities each month. Building Activity, a quarterly survey of builders, counts dwellings commenced and completed in each quarter and the number under construction at its end. All four measures here are dwelling units, across public and private sectors, and include dwellings created by alterations and conversions as well as new buildings.
The stages are flows and a stock, not a single group of homes followed through. A dwelling approved in one quarter may start in a later one or not at all, and the ABS does not link individual approvals to completions. Comparing the totals at each stage shows how the pipeline is moving, not what share of approved homes are built.
Fifteen years, stage by stage
Dwellings approved, commenced and completed, Australia, calendar years 2011 to 2025
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Tables 33 and 38 (A83801976T). Dwelling units, all sectors and all types of building and work, original. Approvals: Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 6 (A422064L), quarterly sums of monthly figures. Completions are the sum of the states (Table 38). Thousands.
| Year | Approved | Commenced | Completed | Under construction at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 153,755 | 154,801 | 154,372 | 130,395 |
| 2012 | 157,676 | 154,104 | 146,228 | 136,740 |
| 2013 | 183,275 | 171,934 | 153,827 | 151,763 |
| 2014 | 210,007 | 203,799 | 177,816 | 175,731 |
| 2015 | 239,735 | 227,495 | 197,251 | 202,850 |
| 2016 | 234,869 | 234,113 | 213,643 | 220,100 |
| 2017 | 224,609 | 216,640 | 213,181 | 220,201 |
| 2018 | 211,539 | 223,795 | 219,589 | 218,486 |
| 2019 | 176,611 | 175,263 | 202,466 | 188,225 |
| 2020 | 187,365 | 182,998 | 181,340 | 186,768 |
| 2021 | 228,995 | 229,378 | 178,558 | 232,338 |
| 2022 | 191,664 | 182,441 | 173,903 | 237,776 |
| 2023 | 164,332 | 165,856 | 176,637 | 224,576 |
| 2024 | 174,364 | 169,607 | 179,075 | 213,322 |
| 2025 | 196,951 | 197,186 | 173,226 | 237,739 |
| Year to June 2026 | 205,593 | 204,440 | 180,501 | 248,733 |
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Tables 33, 38 and 76. Dwelling units, all sectors and all types of building and work, original. Approvals: Building Approvals, Australia, August 2026, Table 6 (A422064L), quarterly sums of monthly figures. Calendar years; under construction at 31 December.
Approvals reached their highest calendar-year total in 2015, at 239,735, commencements in 2016 (234,113) and completions in 2018 (219,589): each stage peaked a year or two after the one before. Approvals and commencements rose again in 2021 to 228,995 and 229,378, fell to 164,332 and 165,856 in 2023, and recovered in 2024 and 2025. Completions have stayed between 173,226 and 181,340 a year since 2020.
The number under construction
Dwellings under construction, Australia, March quarter 2011 to June quarter 2026
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Table 76 (A83801978W). Dwelling units, all sectors and all types of building and work, original. Thousands, at the end of each quarter.
At the end of June 2026, 248,733 dwellings were under construction, 35,411 more than at the end of 2024 and more than at any time since the series began in September 1984. The stock first passed its September 2022 peak of 243,825 in March 2026, at 244,132. At the June quarter’s pace of completions it would take 15.7 months to complete, the reading behind Construction Completion Lag (21290).
Starts against completions
Dwellings commenced and completed, four quarters to date, Australia
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Building Activity, Australia, June quarter 2026, Tables 33 and 38 (A83801976T). Dwelling units, all sectors and all types of building and work, original. Totals for the four quarters to each date. Thousands.
Over the four quarters to June 2026, commencements exceeded completions by 23,939, about the same margin as in the four quarters to December 2025 (23,960); before that, it had last been as wide in the four quarters to June 2022. When starts run ahead of completions for long, the stock under construction grows; when completions catch up, as in 2023 and 2024, it falls. The approvals that precede these starts are covered in Dwelling Approvals, August 2026: Houses Lead a Rising Year, and the gap between approvals and commencements in From Approval to Start: The Conversion Gap.
The readings
Building Approvals & Commencements (21510) combines approvals, commencements and the gap between them: at +0.4936σ for the June quarter 2026 it is above its 2011 to 2025 average, at a position of 91.2 against 172 quarters. New Housing Supply Forecasts (21520) combines dwellings under construction, the value of residential work yet to be done and the volume of residential work done: at +1.8182σ it is at the highest of its 168 quarters, a position of 100.0. Construction & Development Pipeline Analysis (21500), the parent of both, carries no reading of its own.
What this does not show
A dwelling counted as under construction may be at any stage from foundations to fit-out, and a large apartment building counts every unit from the day it starts, so the stock can rise in steps when big projects begin. The figures are original, not seasonally adjusted: completions dip every March quarter, so the comparisons here use calendar years or four-quarter totals. Approvals come from a different collection with different timing, and the ABS revises recent quarters as late returns arrive. The counts say nothing about the size, price or location of the dwellings, or about how many are needed.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: August 2026) Building Approvals, Australia [https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-approvals-australia/aug-2026], ABS Website, accessed 7 October 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: June quarter 2026) Building Activity, Australia [https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/jun-2026], ABS Website, accessed 7 October 2026.
ABS material is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Calculations, standardisations and index readings are APN’s and are not attributable to the ABS.
Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
