Home building approvals dipped by 4.0 per cent in March as the nation braced for impact from the coronavirus pandemic and adjusted to social-distancing restrictions.

There were 15,279 approvals given, and the housing type most responsible for the decline was units and homes other than houses.

This category had a fall of 8.2 per cent to 6,538 approvals, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

There was a 1.2 per cent drop in house approvals to 8,520.

Analysts said the results were better than expected.

However, BIS Oxford economist Maree Kilroy said given the usual time taken to process housing applications, the COVID-19 shock was yet to really show.

She expected the figures to fall during the rest of the year.

NAB economist Kaixin Owyong had the same expectations.

She noted a CoreLogic report from last week that said new home sales fell by more than 20 per cent in March – a sign of falling demand.

The fewer approvals meant the value of buildings approved slid 6.5 per cent in March. The residential component lost 5.9 per cent.

The federal government in March began restricting the number of people who could gather indoors and outdoors as a way of slowing the spread of the virus.

The restrictions have been devastating for many businesses and workers, and has caused a sizeable economic downturn.