Auckland leads consent growth

Auckland accounted for more than half of the national increase in new home consents in the year ended December 2025, as overall numbers rose 9%

There were 36,619 new homes consented in New Zealand in the year ended December 2025 – a 9% increase compared with the year ended December 2024.

Auckland accounted for 15,617 of those new homes consented – an increase of 12% compared with the year ended December 2024.

“Auckland continued to account for a large share of new homes consented nationally,” said Economic Indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen. “More than half of the annual increase came from the region.

“The increase for new homes consented in Auckland in 2025 was led by Ōrākei, Maungakiekie-Tāmaki, and Howick local boards,” added Feyen.

Of the 36,619, there were 16,635 stand-alone houses (+5.4%), 16,139 townhouses, flats and units (+14%), 2,359 apartments (+19%) and 1,486 retirement village units (-12%).

“Over half of the new homes consented in Auckland over the year were multi-unit dwellings, with the remainder being stand-alone houses,” concluded Feyen.

 

December monthly lift signals ongoing activity across NZ

In December 2025, there were 3,128 new dwellings consented – a 26.2% increase compared with December 2024.

Of the homes consented in December 2025, there were 1,829 multi-unit homes (+28.3%), 1,299 houses (+23.5%), 1,494 townhouses, flats and units (+49.7%), 263 retirement village units (+286.8%) and 72 apartments (-80%).

Consents per 1,000 residents increase slightly

The number of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents increased slightly to 6.9 for the year ended December 2025 compared to December 2024’s 6.4 dwellings consented for 1,000 residents.

Three regions consented above national levels: Canterbury (10.5), Otago (10.4) and Auckland (8.6).

Regional outliers

In the year ended December 2025, nine regions consented more dwellings compared to the previous year. Nelson recorded the biggest percentage increase with 267 (+34.8%), followed by Southland with 428 (+33.3%), Wellington 2,171 (+18.4%) and Otago 2,630 (+12.5%).

The four regions with the most consents issued were:

• 15,617 in Auckland (+9.7%).
• 7,316 in Canterbury (+11.8%).
• 3,044 in Waikato (+10.5%).
• 2,171 in Wellington (+18.4%).

Mixed fortunes for non-residential consents

In the year ended December 2025, non-residential building consents totalled $8.9bn, down 4.6% from the year ended December 2024. This series can be influenced by price changes – non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 1.5% in the year ended 2025. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration, and public transport buildings – $1.7bn (-5.0%).
• Factories – $1.4bn (+ 14%).
• Education buildings – $1.4bn (+27%).