Australia Building Consents Rise 0.7% In December

(RTTNews) - The total number of building permits issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 15,174.

That was in line with expectations following the 3.4 percent decline in November.

Permits for private sector houses fell 3.0 percent on month to 8,715, while consents for private sector dwellings excluding houses surged 15.2 percent to 6,209.

On a yearly basis, permits for private sector houses was down 1.8 percent, permits for private sector dwellings excluding houses rallied 42.7 percent and overall permits were up 12.2 percent.

The value of total residential building fell 0.9 percent on month to A$8.33 billion, while the value of non-residential building rose 9.7 percent to A$6.62 billion.