“Once again the latest data shows the federal government continues to fail Australians on its marquee Housing Accord policy, with every one of the 24 months of the Accord now behind target,” said Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, new Building Approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the month of June 2026 reveal the following.
- The number of housing approvals granted in June 2026 was 18,328.
- This was fewer than the number of housing approvals granted ten years ago, in June 2016, when governments granted 18,375 housing approvals.
- In the 2026 financial year, housing approvals totalled 205,249. For context, ten years ago in 2016, housing approvals totalled 238,784.
- This means that annual housing approvals are 14 per cent lower than a decade ago.
- The cumulative shortfall from the National Housing Accord’s minimum target to date is now at least 86,574.
“At a time when the federal government continues its mass migration experiment, states are struggling to get new homes approved and ultimately built to keep up with increased demand,” said Dr You.
Chart 1: Annual housing approvals by financial year by type of housing
“The reality is that the government must dramatically slash immigration until every Australian who wants to own a home is able to afford one,” said Dr You.
The IPA’s submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into housing supply regulation can be accessed here.
Chart 2: Cumulative housing approval shortfall from the National Housing Accord
