Annual consents up – but January down

The year ended January 2023 saw a 1.4% increase in the number of new homes consented compared to the year ended January 2022 – however, the monthly number of homes consented in January 2023 was down

In the month of January 2023, there were 2,777 new homes consented. That is a 2% drop compared to January 2022. 

“Fewer stand-alone houses were consented in January 2023 compared with January 2022, contributing to the decrease,” said Construction and Property Statistics Manager Michael Heslop.

Out of the 2,777 new homes consented, there were 1,067 stand-alone houses (-26% compared to January 2022) and 1,710 multi-unit homes (+22%).

“Several large apartment and retirement village projects were consented in January 2023, which led to an increase in the number of multi-unit homes consented,” added Heslop.

However, the annual number of new homes consented in the year ended January 2023 was up 1.4% compared with the year ended January 2022. There were 49,480 new homes consented, of which 28,448 were multi-unit homes (+22% compared to the year ended January 2022). There were 21,032 stand-alone houses consented (-18%).

The seasonally adjusted number of new homes in January 2023 was down 1.5% compared to December 2022.

Regional ups and downs

There were mixed results around New Zealand. Canterbury (+14% to 8,889) and Wellington (+9.1% to 3,916) experienced the largest increases in the year ended January 2023, compared with the year ended January 2022. Auckland consented the most, with 21,163, but grew by only 4.1%.

Meanwhile, Waikato consented 4,690 new homes – an 11% decrease over the same period.

Canterbury consented the highest number of homes per 1,000 residents for the year ended January 2023 with 13.6. Auckland (12.5) consented the second-highest number of homes, while Otago (9.8) consented the third most per 1,000..

Gisborne (3.1), Southland (4.3) and Hawke’s Bay (4.3) consented the least.

Non-residential building consents increase

In the year ended January 2023, non-residential building consents totalled $9.5bn, an increase of 13% compared to the year ended January 2022. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.7bn (+68% compared to the year ended January 2021).
• Education buildings – $1.6bn (up 13%) 
• Storage buildings – $1.5bn (up 30%).