The total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 6.5 percent on month in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at 13,237.
That misses forecasts for a decline of 2.3 percent following the 5.5 percent increase in May.
Permits for private sector houses fell 0.5 percent on month to 9.078, while permits for private sector dwellings excluding houses tumbled 19.7 percent to 3,918.
On a yearly basis, overall consents fell 3.7 percent, while consents for private sector houses jumped 11.0 percent and consents for private sector dwellings excluding houses slumped 22.1 percent.
The value of total residential building fell 0.6 percent to A$7.61 billion, while the value of non-residential building fell 16.2 percent to A$4.46 billion.