Canterbury consents surge to six-year high

Canterbury experienced a record six-year high in new housing consents, with 444 issued in March 2013. The rest of the country cooled in comparison to the same time last year.

“Waimakariri and Selwyn districts each broke records, with their highest monthly totals since the series began in April 1990,” said industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno.

New dwelling consents fell in 11 of the 16 national regions compared with March 2012, with the biggest drops experienced in Auckland, Wellington, Bay of Plenty and Otago. Single digit increases were seen in Waikato, Tasman, Marlborough and Gisborne compared with March 2012. No new apartments were consented in Auckland in March, compared to 104 consents in March 2012. 

“If we look at the long-term picture, the trend for new house numbers has been positive for two years but the rate of growth has slowed in recent months,” said Cardno.

“Over 4,000 quake-related consents ahve been issued since 4 September 2010, valued at close to $940 million

Housing consents for new houses including apartments were 1,475, down 5.4% on the same time last year. Only 16 apartment consents were issued and these were all for retirement village units. The seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings including apartments dropped 9.1% (3.1% excluding apartments) in March, partly due to the low number of apartments.  

Work being carried out on Auckland prisons boosted the value of non-residential buildings by $62 million to $365 million compared to March 2012. More increases were seen in offices and administration buildings (up $13 million), storage buildings (up $9 million) and education buildings (up $6 million) on 2012.

Canterbury earthquake-related consents in March were worth $51 million, with $29 million being residential and $22 million non-residential. Over 4,000 quake-related consents have been issued since 4 September 2010, valued at close to $940 million. Building activity in Canterbury rose 1.5% in the December 2012 quarter. In the September 2012 quarter, Canterbury building activity spiked 30% with the rest of NZ increasing by 5%.

The value of consents in March 2012 for all buildings was up 10% on March 2012 to $937 million. The year end March 2013 value of all building consents increased by 16% to $1426 million; $1275 million of that was residential consents.