New house approvals have fallen to their lowest level in nearly 12 years as higher borrowing and building costs put buyers particularly in NSW and Victoria off committing to new homes, the latest official figures show.

January’s 9.6 per cent month-on-month decline pulled total approvals of detached houses to a seasonally adjusted 7565, the weakest since June 2012. Monthly readings are volatile but even on a rolling 12-monthly basis, the January total of 101,030 approvals was the lowest in over a decade.