The total number of building approvals in Australia issued in July fell a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent on month in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - standing at 18,299.
That beat forecasts for a decline of 5.0 percent following the upwardly revised 11.7 percent spike in June (originally 10.9 percent).
On a yearly basis, approvals fell 13.9 percent - again beating expectations for a decline of 16.6 percent after dipping 2.3 percent in the previous month.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector houses was flat in July after rising for three months.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 6.7 percent in July following a rise of 21.3 percent in the previous month.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building approved fell 0.4 percent in July after rising for three months.
The value of residential building fell 2.2 percent following a rise of 5.1 percent in the previous month. The value of non-residential building rose 2.4 percent and has risen for four straight months.
Also on Wednesday, the ABS said that the total value of construction work done in Australia in the second quarter of 2017 was up a seasonally adjusted 9.3 percent on quarter in the second three months of 2017, coming in at A$51.669 billion.
That beat expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent following the 0.7 percent decline in the three months prior.
The estimate for building work done was up 0.1 percent to A$26.996 billion, while engineering work done surged 21.5 percent to A$24.672 billion.
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