Australian dwelling commencements fell 12.6 per cent in the March quarter to 30,623 units, official figures show.

The seasonally-adjusted March quarter result was down from an downwardly revised 35,033 units for the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, released on Wednesday, show.

December’s dwelling commencements had also fallen, dropping 6.9 per cent from the September quarter.

In the year to March 2012, total dwelling commencements had dropped 24.5 per cent, seasonally adjusted.