The total number of building approvals in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 4.4 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, standing at 12,767.
That was well shy of forecasts for a 1.0 percent increase following the upwardly revised 3.4 percent increase in November (originally reported as 2.9 percent).
On a yearly basis, building approvals were up 9.3 percent - also missing forecasts for an increase of 14.9 percent after climbing 13.2 percent in the previous month.
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