01.04.201920:50:00UTC+00Australia Building Approvals Surge 19.1% In February

The total number of building approvals in Australia jumped a seasonally adjusted 19.1 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at 17,074.

That was way above forecasts for a fall of 1.8 percent following the 2.5 percent gain in January.

On a yearly basis, building approvals sank 12.5 percent - but that also beat expectations for a fall of 27.0 percent after tumbling 28.6 percent in the previous month.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for private sector houses fell 3.6 percent in February, while private sector dwellings excluding houses surged 64.6 percent.

The value of total building approved rose 15.4 percent in February. The value of residential building rose 24.7 percent, while the value of non-residential building rose 2.1 percent.