Auckland drives consent growth in June

New dwelling consents continue to climb in Auckland, but remain flat in other regions 

New dwelling consents in June totalled 2,042, compared to 2,002 in June 2014. The total included 1,502 houses and 311 townhouses, flats and units.

Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwellings consented fell 4.1%, following no change in May. For houses only, the seasonally adjusted number fell 0.4%, following a 2.5% rise in May.

In the June quarter, 4,454 new houses were consented, down 2.1% on the previous corresponding period.

In the first six months of the year, 12,057 new dwelling consents were issued, up 3.8% compared to the first half of 2014. Auckland (4,033), Canterbury (3,092) and Waikato (1,275) combined accounted for 70% of the national total, and were the only regions to consent more than 1,000 new dwellings in the first half of the year.

In the regions

Compared to June 2014, new dwelling consents rose in nine out of the 16 regions. The three biggest increases  were in Auckland (up 105 to 704; +18%), Bay of Plenty (up 28 to 145; +24%) and Taranaki (up 17 to 42; +68%). Other regions to record an increase were Manawatu-Wanganui, Nelson, Northland, Otago, Tasman and the West Coast.

Canterbury (down 79 to 544; -13%), Wellington (down 30 to 88; -25%), Hawke’s Bay (down 11 to 18; -38%) and Waikato (down 11 to 207; -5%) recorded the biggest decreases. Gisborne and Southland were the other two regions to record a decrease, while Marlborough recorded no change.

Consents total $1.3bn

The total value of building work consented in June 2015 was $1.3bn – comprising $832m of residential work, and $454m of non-residential work.

For the year ended June 2015, compared with June 2014 year, the value of building consents increased for:

• All buildings – up $1.7bn (13%) to $15bn.
• Residential buildings – up $0.9bn (11%) to $9.8bn.
• Non-residential buildings – up $800m (17%) to $5.4bn.