Building approvals are up for houses and units according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

House approvals rose by 3.8% during the month of March, and the value of residential buildings increased by 8.7% to $6.35 billion.

Approvals for attached properties and units increased by 3.6% during the same period.

In total there were 12,947 new dwellings approved in March, an increase of 1.9% on the previous month.

Victoria had the biggest increase in approvals for houses in March of 6%, followed by New South Wales (4%), Queensland (3.2%) and South Australia (1.1%). Western Australia was down by 1.8%.

In the attached dwelling market, Victoria had the biggest increase of 3.2% in March, followed by Western Australia, which was up by 1.5%.

ABS head of construction statistics, Daniel Rossi, says the average approval value for a new house also rose to be $468,800 per house.

He says the pace of growth in average approval values has slowed.

“Higher construction costs continue to weigh on dwelling approvals, with the average approval value for a new house rising in all states,” Rossi says.