House consents continue to rise

Trend at its highest level for more than six years.

The trend for the number of new houses consented, excluding apartments, continues to rise and is at its highest level since December 2007, according to Statistics New Zealand’s latest figures. It has been increasing for almost three years and, in February 2014, rose 3%. It’s up 85% from the most recent low point in March 2011, but still 21% below the record high in September 2003.

Dwelling trends continue to rise

In February 2014, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings, including apartments, fell 1.7%. This wasn’t enough to reverse the overall trend, which is 7.3% higher than in October 2013.

The 1.7% drop was largely due to apartment consents, which recorded unusually high numbers in November (492, including 61 retirement village units) and December (473, including 122 retirement village units), returning to a lower level in January (154, including 88 retirement village units) and February (66, including 16 retirement village units).

Excluding apartments, new dwellings increased by 3% (from 1,486 to 1,702) in February, following a decline of 1.3% in January.

Overall, the trend for new dwellings, including apartments, is up 95% from the most recent low point in March 2011. The trend is at its highest point since October 2007, but is still 29% below the maximum in January 2004.

Non-apartment dwellings up in 11 regions

Excluding apartments, 11 of the 16 regions consented more new dwellings in February 2014 than in February 2013. More than half of these were in Canterbury (up 120 to 520) and Auckland (up 93 to 436). Wellington (up 33 to 114) and Northland (up 24 to 69) also saw significant increases.

Other regions that consented more dwellings included Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Otago and Southland. Those that didn’t were Gisborne, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast.