The Australian housing industry saw a sharp fall in the number of buildings approved in July amid soaring building costs and interest rate hikes.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), total building approvals across the country tumbled by 17.2 percent in July compared to a modest 0.6 percent drop in June.
The sharp decrease was led by a lack of approvals for apartments and units, with the number of non-house dwellings approved for the private sector plunging by 43.5 percent.
ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said the above figure was the lowest level recorded since January 2012.
On the other hand, there was a slight increase of 0.7 percent in house approvals….