The number of dwelling units commenced and completed demonstrates trends in the housing market supply over time.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publication Building Activity, Australia reports detailed estimates of building work commenced and done, sourced from the quarterly Building Activity Survey. Building activity includes the construction of new buildings and alterations and additions to existing buildings. A dwelling unit is defined as a self-contained suite of rooms, including cooking and bathing facilities and intended for long-term residential use (not including units in buildings offering institutional care). Building activity data are compiled using approval details and returns collected from builders and other individuals and organisations engaged in building activity of all approved public and private sector owned residential building jobs valued at $10,000 or more and non-residential building jobs valued at $50,000 or more. The value of residential building work includes GST. Due to the use of survey methods, the estimates in building activity contain sampling error, expressed as relative standard error (RSE).

Building Activity, Australia data are also used in the following dashboard menu options: Building activity - dwelling construction.

See ABS - Building Activity, Australia for further information, including in-depth commentary and analysis, in particular the source data Quality Declaration. Source reference Data downloads,Time series spreadsheets, tables 33, 34, 37 and 38.