Stats show a cooling off

After sitting at seven-year highs, the trend for the number of new dwelling consents, including apartments, is starting to decline

Despite nearly 2,000 new dwellings consented in September, the number of consents is starting to fall off, according to the latest figures from Statistics New Zealand.

In September, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented (1,985) decreased by 12%. Excluding apartments, the numbers of new dwelling consents fell 10%. Of the 262 apartments consented, 121 were retirement village units.

The trend is now 31% below the January 2004 series peak, 6% lower than last month.

In the regions

The most new dwelling consents, including apartments, were in Canterbury (579), followed by Auckland (537) and Wellington (193).

New dwelling consents, including apartments, were up from last September in eight out of the 16 regions. The largest increases were in Wellington (up 95 to 193; +49%), Auckland (up 47 to 537; +9%) and Nelson (up 27 to 35; +77%). The other regions to register increases were Bay of Plenty, Otago, Southland, Taranaki and Marlborough.

The largest decreases were in Waikato (down 36 to 162), Canterbury (down 20 to 579) and Northland (down 17 to 45). Other regions to decrease were the West Coast, Hawke’s Bay, Tasman and Gisborne.

New dwelling consents, including apartments, in Manawatu-Wanganui remained the same at 49.

In September, nearly $1.3 billion worth of building work was consented, including $484 million of non-residential work. Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington combined accounted for $346 million of the total.

In the year ended September, the value of all building consents increased 21% to $14.1 billion compared to the year ending 2013. For the same period, the value of non-residential building consents increased 16% to $4.9 billion.