Home Feedback Consents slump in March

Issue 53 - June 2016

Consents slump in March

20 May 2016, Feedback, Industry Updates

Numbers indicate volatile start to the year 

After rebounding strongly in February, the number of new dwelling consents fell again in March. A total of 2,315 new dwelling consents were issued, including consents for 1,815 houses, an increase of 44 compared to March 2015.

For the first quarter of the year compared to the previous corresponding period, new dwelling consents were up 657 (11%) to 6,389.   

Despite the absolute increases, seasonally adjusted the number of new dwellings fell 9.8% in March following a 10% increase in February. For houses only, it fell 4.1% following a 3.9% rise in February.

In the regions

Ten out of the 16 regions consented more new dwellings in March 2016 than in March 2015. The largest increases were in Waikato (up 57 to 276; +26%), Bay of Plenty (up 47 to 181; +35%), Auckland (up 32 to 788; +4%) and Otago (up 32 to 126; +34%). Other regions to record an increase were Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Marlborough, Northland and Taranaki.

The biggest decreases were in Wellington (down 97 to 107; -48%), Canterbury (down 68 to 520; -12%) and Southland (down nine to 17; -35%). Nelson, Tasman and the West Coast were the other regions to record a decrease.

The trend for the number of new dwellings consented in Auckland recently reached its highest level since late 2004, but it appears to have tailed off in the past few months.

Non-residential consents on the up

The value of non-residential building consents in March was $460m – up $33m (7.8%) from March 2015. This was mainly due to an increase in the value of consents for two building types:

Auckland ($178m) and Canterbury ($124m) were the two largest contributors; combined they accounted for two-thirds of the total value.

The total value of building work consented in March  was $1.5 billion. This comprised $1bn of residential work, and $460m non-residential work.

For the year ended March 2016, compared with the year ended March 2015, the value of buildings consented increased for:

  • All buildings – up $1.9bn (13%) to $17bn.
  • Residential buildings – up $1.3bn (14%) to $11bn.
  • Non-residential buildings – up $545m (10%) to $5.8bn.Screen Shot 2016-05-20 at 3.44.05 PM

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