The total number of building approvals in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.0 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, standing at 16,669.
That was well shy of forecasts for a decline of 2.0 percent following the 6.9 percent increase in January.
On a yearly basis, building approvals climbed 23.2 percent - also missing expectations for 27.9 percent after surging 34.6 percent in the previous month.
Approvals for private sector houses fell 2.1 percent on month and climbed 21.8 percent on year to 9,293. Approvals excluding houses dropped 8.7 percent on month and jumped 32.7 percent on year to 7,146.
The value of total approvals fell 0.3 percent on month. The value of residential building approvals fell 0.2 percent, while the value of non-residential building approvals lost 0.5 percent.
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