Regional March building approval data from the ABS today. Charts have been updated in building approvals

A few points:

• The last two months haven’t been too bad at SA4 regional level but very bumpy in the breakdown.
• A high number of dwelling approvals in Atherton was a feature in Tableland and boosted the total for the region.
• In Cairns itself a turnaround from usual in past years with a higher number of dwelling approvals in SA2 ‘South’ than ‘North’. The previous month there was a very high number of dwelling approvals in ‘North’ at Trinity Beach-Smithfield.
• Activity in Port Douglas itself remains listless despite the resurgent tourism sector. Most activity in the Douglas SA3 is happening in Daintree which includes anything north of the PD-Craiglie metropolis such as Mossman and Wonga Beach.
• Despite catastrophism in Townsville the decline in dwelling approvals has not approached catastrophic levels relative to population. The value of non-residential approvals for the YTD remains way out of line above any regional comparisons anywhere In Queensland. Apparently they still think they deserve funding for a football stadium.

As always recommended commentary and analysis particularly related to the Cassowary Coast on building approvals at Conus: Regional Building Approvals; no joy in the Far North 3