Building approvals in October reversed a sharp slide in the previous month, to rise by more than double analysts' expectations, official data shows.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the number of buildings approved rose a seasonally adjusted 11.4 per cent to 17,062 in October.
That compares to 15,004 approvals in September, seasonally adjusted, which was a surprisingly large fall of 11 per cent in a month.
The result more than doubles expectations of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who predicted a 5 per cent rise in building approvals during October.
Over the 12 months to August, building approvals were up 2.5 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, ahead of expectations of a decrease of 6.0 per cent.
The strong approval data in October was driven by the highly volatile apartment sector, which increased by 31.3 per cent in the month. That followed a decline of 21.9 per cent in September.