The total number of building approvals issued in Australia jumped a seasonally adjusted 8.3 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at 18,995.
That beat expectations for a decline of 1.5 percent following the 1.8 percent gain in January.
On a yearly basis, approvals were down 4.9 percent - but that also beat forecasts for a loss of 14.5 percent following the 12.0 percent contraction in the previous month.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building approved rose 19.9 percent in February following a fall of 3.0 percent in the previous month.
The value of residential building rose 13.9 percent and has risen for four months. The value of non-residential building surged 34.5 percent following a fall of 16.9 percent in the previous month.
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