The figures come after a steady stream of new apartments in Brisbane's inner-city in recent years, with experts saying rents are likely to remain steady in 2017.

The ABS trend data, released on Monday, shows monthly approvals were 22.5 per cent lower in November 2016 in Queensland compared to the same month a year earlier.

In seasonally adjusted terms, monthly approvals were 28.5 per cent lower than they were 12 months ago.

The decline during the past four months was driven mostly by apartments, units and townhouses.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland media spokeswoman Felicity Moore said approvals were slowing in parts of Brisbane, due to speculation about an apartment oversupply.

Ms Moore said approvals would likely continue to soften during 2017 in Brisbane's inner-city, but she expected approvals to hold steady in the outer suburbs where detached dwellings were popular with families.

"Queensland, and more specifically Brisbane, has experienced a higher-than-usual level of developments and construction for the better part of the past two years, and this will naturally return to more normal levels at some point," she said.

"The south-east corner population growth has slowed recently to its lowest levels in more than 20 years, so it's expected that dwelling construction will slow also."

Ms Moore said rental yields were reasonably flat in Brisbane over the past two years, but the population was still growing and Brisbane City Council and the government had issued town planning guidelines that favoured density.

"As a result, there will be a steady market for apartments over the mid to long term," she said.

"Apartment owner occupiers and investors will see steady capital growth if they choose to hold onto their asset for five years or longer."

Ms Moore said renters would continue to have a high level of choice and rental incentives over the next 12 to 18 months as market conditions favoured the tenant.

"It's unlikely we'll see any rental growth in the inner-city apartment market over the next 12 months."

Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said the ABS figures were worrying, with trend building approvals in Queensland going backwards for 11 straight months.

"Seasonally adjusted monthly approvals are down 28.5 per cent in the last 12 months, the worst result of any Australian state," Mr Emerson said.

"These are worrying numbers when you consider the importance of the construction industry to the state's economy, with 240,000 Queenslanders directly employed in the sector.

"Less approvals means less activity and ultimately less jobs."

But a spokesman for Treasurer Curtis Pitt said given the substantial supply of apartment projects already in the pipeline, approval for medium to high density dwellings were expected to "moderate further downard" from its peak in late 2015.

"The substantial rise in apartment approvals observed from late 2014 to early 2016, particularly in inner-city Brisbane, Gold Coast and Brisbane south, continues to support strong growth in dwelling construction activity in Queensland," he said.

Brisbane City Council City Planning chairman Julian Simmonds said while statewide figures showed a pronounced decline in development and building approvals, fluctuations in the Brisbane residential market were much smaller.

"There is still a strong investment confidence in Brisbane and ongoing demand for additional housing options to meet the changing needs of residents," Cr Simmonds said.

"The state government has recently released its draft South-East Queensland Regional Plan, which looks to increase the number of new dwellings constructed in Brisbane by around 50 per cent.

"The draft regional plan identifies that Brisbane will need more than 223,000 new homes over 30 years."