CANBERRA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The number of dwellings commenced in Australia rose 7.0 percent in the June quarter of 2026, official data showed on Wednesday.
In seasonally adjusted terms, a total of 52,201 dwellings were commenced during the quarter, up 14.4 percent from the same period last year, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
New private-sector house commencements rose 11.6 percent from the previous quarter to 31,707, and were 20.7 percent higher than a year earlier.
By contrast, commencements of new private-sector other residential buildings, including apartments and townhouses, edged down 0.1 percent from the March quarter to 19,126, although they remained 4.6 percent higher year on year.
Among major states, dwelling commencements increased to 16,239 in Victoria, 11,671 in Queensland, 7,240 in Western Australia and 3,913 in South Australia, while New South Wales recorded 11,252 commencements.
The number of dwellings under construction across Australia reached 248,733 in the June quarter, up from 244,132 in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the value of total building work done rose 1.1 percent to 45.8 billion Australian dollars (about 32 billion U.S. dollars), said the ABS. ■
