Consents slump in April

Auckland’s booming construction sector supported new dwelling consent figures in April

In absolute terms, 2,729 new dwellings were consented for the month – up 30% on the previous April. Despite that, the number of new dwellings consented fell a seasonally adjusted* 3.7% following a 13% in March.

The total figure included 1,614 stand-alone houses, 566 townhouses, flats and units, and 358 apartments (269 of which were consented in Auckland). The number of stand-alone houses consented fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in April.

“Apartments and townhouses consented tend to be unevenly spread month to month, which causes peaks and troughs in total new homes consented,” said Construction Statistics Manager Melissa McKenzie.

In the regions

Ten out of the 16 regions consented more new dwellings in April 2018 compared to April 2017.

 Auckland (up 437 to 1,163; +60%), Wellington (up 78 to 206; +61%) and Canterbury (up 35 to 368; +11%)  led the increase and were the only regions to record an absolute change of more than 30 consents. Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Northland, Otago, Taranaki and Tasman were the other regions to record an increase.

Marlborough (down 15 to 8; -65%), Waikato (down 10 to 254; -4%) and Gisborne (down 6 to 3; -67%) recorded the largest month-on-month decreases. Southland and West Coast were the other regions to consent fewer new dwellings in April 2018 compared to April 2017.

Non-residential consents worth $6.7bn

In the 12 months to April, non-residential building consents totaled $6.75bn – up 5.2% from the previous corresponding period. Auckland ($2.6bn; +13%) and Canterbury ($1.6bn; -0.6%) combined to contribute over 60% of the total value of non-residential building consents.

 *Seasonal adjustments remove the estimated effect of regular seasonal events, such as Easter and other holidays from statistical series. This makes figures for adjacent periods more comparable. The series is re-estimated monthly when each new month’s data becomes available and is therefore subject to revision, with the largest changes normally occurring in the latest months.