The number of building approvals has increased in July, as volatile apartment figures rebounded strongly in the month, official data shows.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the number of buildings approved rose a seasonally adjusted 4.2 per cent to 19,298.
Forecasts by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a 3 per cent rise in approvals during the month.
Meanwhile, last month's read of an 8.2 decline for June was revised to a 5.7 per cent decline, meaning approvals are only down 1.2 per cent over the two months combined and 4.7 per cent below their March peak, according to Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan.
July's result still leaves the number of approvals below March's high-water mark of 19,419 approvals, which itself was an increase on January's previous record, after apartment approvals rose significantly.
The July rise was driven by a lift in the approval of 'other dwellings', which includes apartment blocks and townhouses, a volatile figure, representing the bulk approval rate for apartment towers.
The figure rose 6.1 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms, during the month, to 9087 dwellings.
Mr Hassan said volatility continued to affect much of the survey detail, “making trends difficult to pinpoint”.
“The picture ex-high rise approvals suggests a flattening uptrend in NSW and Queensland and downtrends in Victoria and WA,” he said.
“...[S]tepping back from the month-to-month variations, approvals have clearly passed their peak but the degree to which conditions are now softening remains unclear.”
However, the number of detached homes approved was weaker, retreating 3.0 per cent to 9,322 in July after a strong result in June.
Over the 12 months to July, total building approvals were up 13.4 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the ABS said, ahead of economist expectations of a 10.1 per cent increase.
Over the same period apartment approvals have surged 25.2 per cent, while approvals for private sector houses have declined a modest 2.2 per cent.
In trend terms, which strips out month-to-month volatility in the figures, housing approvals have increased 13.8 per cent over the year to July, after shrinking 0.7 per cent, in trend terms, in the month.
However, the trend rate of dwelling approvals has now fallen for five straight months, at a time when the Reserve Bank of Australia is trying to stimulate the economy with record-low interest rates.