Residential building approvals have hit their highest level since early 2010, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
"Total residential building approvals in September 2013 increased by 14.4 per cent compared with August on a seasonally adjusted basis," said HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett.
"This brought total approvals to 16,318 during the month. We have not seen a figure higher than this since March 2010."
According to the HIA, building approvals have been running at an annual rate of around 180,000 over the last three months.
"Growth was driven by the multi-unit segment of the market where approvals increased by 31.8 per cent compared with the previous month. Detached house approvals rose by only 1.9 per cent over the same period. This demonstrates that the recovery is not yet as broad-based as we would like," continued Shane Garrett.
"The main message from today's figures is that the RBA's interest rate cuts over the past two years are helping to support activity on the ground. However, it is worth remembering that the growth in approvals is dominated by multi-units rather than houses. It would be a welcome development to see greater momentum emerge for detached housing," concluded Shane Garrett.
In September 2013, total seasonally adjusted building approvals growth was strongest in New South Wales (+25.2 per cent), followed by Victoria (+18.0 per cent) and Western Australia (+12.3 per cent). Approvals also increased in Queensland (+3.8 per cent) and South Australia (+0.8 per cent). In trend terms, total building approvals were flat in the Northern Territory and declined by 4.3 per cent in the ACT during September. Tasmania also saw approvals fall during September (-10.3 per cent).