Apartment consents up 92% for month of July

Minimal movement in overall number of new home consents, despite spike in apartments 

Apartment consents rose in both monthly and annual terms this July, according to Stats NZ Economic Indicators Spokesperson Michelle Feyen. 

“After a steep drop in apartment consents last year, we’re now seeing growth led by Auckland,” said Feyen. 

In total, 33,879 new homes were consented in the year ended July 2025 – a decrease of 0.1% compared with the year ended July 2024. Stand-alone home consents increased by 1.7% to 15,685 over the same period.   

Limiting overall growth was the fact that the total number of multi-unit homes consented dropped by 1.7% to 18,194 when compared with the year ended July 2024.     

Of the multi-unit homes consented, there were 14,441 townhouses, flats and units (-3.4% compared with the year ended July 2024), 2,270 apartments (+26.4%) and 1,483 retirement village units (-15.6%).   

In the month of July 2025, there were 3,252 new dwellings consented (-3.0% compared to July 2024), comprising 1,512 stand-alone houses (-10.3%), 1,413 townhouses, flats and units (+6.0%), 135 retirement village units (-42.3%) and 192 apartments (+92.0%).   

Regional outliers    

Six regions consented more dwellings in the year ended July 2025 compared to the previous year. Otago and Nelson recorded the largest increases – 2,433 dwellings (+14.9%) in Otago and 255 (+14.9%) in Nelson. This is followed by Taranaki with 428 (+6.5%), Auckland with 14,347 (+5.0%), Tasman with 296 (+3.1%) and Southland which consented 345 (+0.3%).  

The four regions with the most consents issued were:    

• 14,347 in Auckland (+5.0%).    

• 6,586 in Canterbury (-2.6%).    

• 2,807 in Waikato (-7.1%).    

• 2,433 in Otago (+14.9%).     

Consents per 1,000 residents unchanged  

The number of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents remained unchanged at 6.4 for the year ended July 2025, matching the rate recorded in the year ended July 2024.  

Three regions consented above national levels per 1,000 residents: Otago (9.7), Canterbury (9.6) and Auckland (8.0).     

Non-residential building consents down    

In the year ended July 2025, non-residential building consents totalled $9bn, up 0.8% from the year ended July 2024. This series can be influenced by price changes – non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 1.6 percent in the year ended June 2025. 

The building types with the highest value were:    

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.7bn (+9.7%).    

• Storage buildings – $1.4bn (-2.4%).   

• Factories – $1.3bn (+12%).