Annual October consents drop 16%

Consents continued to decrease in the year ended October 2024, but the split between multi-unit and standalone homes continues to shift

The number of new homes consented in the year ended October 2024 is down 16.1% compared with the year ended October 2023.

There were 33,467 new homes consented in the year ended October 2024, with multi-unit homes accounting for 17,584 (-25.4% compared to the year ended October 2023). There were also 15,883 stand-alone homes consented (-2.8%).

“On an annual basis, multi-unit homes have been consented in higher numbers than stand-alone houses since early 2022 but the gap between the two is narrowing,” said Economic Indicators Spokesperson Michael Heslop.

Of the 17,584 multi-unit homes, there were 14,089 townhouses, flats and units (-20% compared with the year ended October 2023), 1,719 apartments (-46.8%) and 1,776 retirement village units (-35%).

Month-on-month reduction

The month of October 2024 saw 2,850 new homes consented compared with 3,060 the month of October 2023 (-6.9%).

Of those, the number of stand-alone houses increased, with 1,363 stand-alone houses consented, compared with 1,255 in the month of October 2023 (+8.6%).

However, this was outweighed by a drop in multi-unit home consents from 1,805 in October 2023 to 1,487 in October 2024 (-17.6%).

Of the multi-unit homes, there were 1,174 townhouses, flats and units (-14.9%), 183 apartments (-24.1%) and 130 retirement village units (-29.3%).

Regional outliers

Only two regions, Hawke’s Bay and Otago, consented more dwellings in the year ended October 2024 compared to the previous year. Hawke’s Bay consented 758 new homes (+1.9%), while Otago consented significantly more at 2,215 (+12.5%).

The four regions with the most consents issued were Auckland (13,863; -%16.8), Canterbury (6,571; -9.4%), Waikato (2,876; -23%) and Wellington (1,766; -43.3%).

Consents down per 1,000 residents

In terms of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents, the figures for the year ended October 2024 declined compared with the year ended October 2023 (6.3 vs 7.6).

Three regions consented above national levels: Auckland (7.7), Otago (8.6) and Canterbury (9.5).

Non-residential building consents down

In the year ended October 2024, non-residential building consents totalled $9.3bn, down 3.5% from the year ended October 2023. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.8bn (+26%).
• Hospitals, nursing homes, and health buildings– $1.4bn (-6.8%).
• Storage buildings – $1.3bn (-13%).

Building activity for September quarter also down

The seasonally adjusted volume of building work in the September 2024 quarter fell by 3.2% to $7.8bn when compared with the June 2024 quarter. Residential building work dropped 3.5% to $4.8bn and non-residential building work fell 2.8% to $2.9bn over the same period.

“Quarterly residential building activity reached its lowest level in four years, in seasonally adjusted terms,” said Heslop.

The seasonally adjusted building activity volume series removes the effects of typical seasonal patterns and changes to construction costs. Volumes are calculated at September 2022 quarter prices. Residential construction prices rose 0.2% in the September 2024 quarter.

The value of building work put in place in the year ended September 2024 dropped 2.6% to $35bn, when compared to the year ended September 2023. Value estimates of building work put in place, in contrast to volume estimates, include changes to building costs over time (such as material and labour costs).