Canberra has joined a national trend in declining building approvals to record its first fall this calendar year.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Thursday show that in trend terms the ACT recorded a 1.2 per cent fall in March.
The Housing Industry Association says the fall is indicative of the problems facing the ACT as new home building activity levels drop.
According to ABS data in the building approvals report there were 338 residential building approvals made in the month compared to 342 in February and 341 in January.
The 1.2 per cent decline is also the biggest slump since August 2012, which recorded a 7.2 per cent fall from July figures.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted ABS data showed a fall for the month of 5.5 per cent, following a 3 per cent increase in February.
There were 12,599 dwellings approved in total - 7585 private sector houses and 4859 private dwellings other than houses.
The Housing Industry Association said the decline in approvals during March underlined the delicate state of the country's housing market.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the 1.2 per cent fall in dwellings in Canberra showed it was still in the slumping stage of the cycle.
"The Canberra construction market is in decline at the moment after a couple of years of performing well," he said.
The association says the ACT housing industry is bracing for a downturn in the relatively higher levels of new home building activity of recent years.
This has contributed to the expectation for slowing economic growth in the ACT and "is likely to result in the loss of construction jobs".
The association started a campaign this week to get housing issues on the national agenda and will launch a 50-point action plan next Thursday.
Master Builders Association of the ACT executive director John Miller said the 1.2 per cent fall was in keeping with the volatility of the market and high levels of uncertainty.
"I guess it's a small fall but any fall gives us a cause for concern," he said.
Mr Miller said it would take a while for the industry to return to pre-global financial crisis levels.
Australian Bureau of Statistics construction statistics director David Signorelli said the figures for dwelling approvals in the ACT showed a trend towards larger unit developments.
Building approvals increased in Queensland by 13.3 per cent and in Western Australia by 0.6 per cent. South Australia recorded a decline of 23.5 per cent, NSW fell 10.9 per cent, Victoria down 9.1 per cent and Tasmania dropped 0.3 per cent.