SYDNEY, July 3 (Reuters) - Australian approvals to build
new homes in May, seasonally adjusted, released by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

 Seasonally adjusted            May
 Private sector houses          9,163
 Private dwellings ex houses    4,858
 Total dwelling units           14,175
          
    Annual change in total approvals to build new homes: -8.5%. 
    Forecasts had centred a rise of 1.6% on the month for total
approvals, a Reuters poll showed.
    For details, see the Australian Bureau of Statistics Web
site at http://www.abs.gov.au.

 (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)