Annual consent growth continues for 10th straight month 

Residential building consents increased in the year ended May 2026, marking 10 consecutive months of year-on-year growth, while non-residential consent values softened over the same period 

In total, 39,737 new homes were consented in the year ended May 2026 – an increase of 19% compared with the year May 2025. This included 21,466 multi-unit homes (up 20.2%) and 18,271 stand-alone homes (up 16.5%).   

“The annual increase in new home consents followed declines in May for the last three years, and consent numbers remain below the record peak reached in 2022,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.  

Of the multi-unit homes consented, there were 17,230 townhouses, flats and units (+22.3% compared with the year ended May 2025), 2,554 apartments (+19.5%) and 1,682 retirement village units (+3.4%).  

In the month of May 2026, there were 3,801 new dwellings consented – an increase of 20.6% compared to May 2025. This number comprised 1,835 stand-alone houses (+25.3%), 1,718 townhouses, flats and units (+30.2%), 194 retirement village units (-8.1%) and 54 apartments (-65.4%).  

This significant drop in apartment consents adds to subdued apartment activity previously reported by Under Construction, which highlighted CBRE research showing Auckland’s active apartment pipeline fell to a decade-low in Q1 2026.  

Regions on the up 

Twelve of sixteen regions consented more dwellings in the year ended May 2026 compared to the previous year. Nelson recorded the biggest increase with 334 (+52.5%), followed by Gisborne with 216 (+45%), Southland with 433 (+31.2%), Canterbury with 8,468 (+30.3%), Marlborough with 217 (+21.9%), Auckland with 16,862 (+21.6%), Wellington with 2,168 (+17.1%), Bay of Plenty with 1,645 (+13.8%), Waikato with 3,122 (+8.6%), Hawke’s Bay with 720 (+8.4%), Otago with 2,821 (+7.8%), and Northland, which consented 773 (+5.7%). 

The four regions with the most consents issued were: 

• 16,862 in Auckland (+21.6%). 

• 8,468 in Canterbury (+30.3%). 

• 3,122 in Waikato (+8.6%). 

• 2,821 in Otago (+7.8%). 

Increased consents per 1,000 residents 

The number of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents increased to 7.4 for the year ended May 2026, compared to 6.3 in the year ended May 2025. 

Three regions consented above national levels: Canterbury (12.1), Otago (11.1) and Auckland (9.3). 

Non-residential building consents decrease 

In the year ended May 2026, non-residential building consents totalled $8.7bn, down 4% from the year ended May 2025. This series can be influenced by price changes – non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 1.6% in the year ended March 2026. The building types with the highest value were: 

• Offices, administration, and public transport buildings – $1.7bn (-5%).  

• Education buildings – $1.3bn (+6.4%). 

• Storage buildings  – $1.2bn (-5.2%).