The total number of building permits issued in Australia surged a seasonally adjusted 43.5 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at 18,675.
That blew away expectations for an increase of 10.0 percent following the 27.9 percent contraction in January.
Approvals for private sector houses jumped 16.5 percent in March to 10,240, while approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses skyrocketed 78.3 percent.
On a yearly basis, house permits dropped 27.4 percent, non-house permits jumped 25.5 percent and overall permits shed 7.8 percent.
The value of building approvals jumped 67.5 percent on month to A$14.284 billion.
