Official figures shared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that although a slight fall of 0.6% was recorded in the number of approvals granted for residential buildings in October, the number was still 11.7% higher than that recorded for last year's same month, leading experts to believe that the building sector will continue to add to the country's economic growth over the coming months, despite early signs that the growth might taper off.

In terms of value, while the monthly fall was a mere 0.3%, compared to last year, the total decline came to a substantial 6.8%. The recorded disparity between the number of approvals and value over the past 12 months seems to suggest that there is more construction in the lower price margin, which could be consistent with the hike in first-time buyer activity.

In the past few month, there was sudden rise in the construction of non-residential buildings, mostly on the back of the Building the Education Revolution program, aimed at school buildings, and while this has now changed to more residential buildings, the demand was fueled by the drive.

For October, a 14% decline was recorded in the value of non-residential approvals, following a 36% fall recorded in September.