Auckland leads February lift

Growth in the numbers of new houses continued in February 2013. The Auckland region showed the largest increase (up 51%) in new house consents (up 160 consents to 473 consents) for February 2013 compared with February 2012. This includes 130 apartments, a marked increase compared with zero apartment consents in February 2012.

National housing consents (including apartments) in February 2013 were up 24% on the same time last year. Of the total 1,493 consents, 142 were apartments – 98 of which were for retirement village units. The seasonally adjusted number of new buildings (including apartments) increased by 1.9%, while non-apartment dwellings were down 3.6%.

“The number of new houses consented has been trending up for almost two years and is now 53% higher than the most recent low point in March 2011,” said industry & labour statistics manager Blair Cardno. The trend for the number of new houses, including apartments, is now at its highest level since May 2008.

“The post-earthquake rebuild is not the driving force behind the national increase” – Blair Cardno, Statistics NZ

Canterbury had the second largest regional increase in new houses, up 35% from 91 in February 2012 to 351. No new apartments were consented in Canterbury in February 2013.

Earthquake-related building consents in Canterbury totalled $35 million in February 2013. This is the lowest monthly total since April 2012. In February 2013, the total value of residential buildings in Canterbury was $26 million and non-residential was $9 million.

“The volume of building activity in Canterbury continues to look strong, but the post-earthquake rebuild is not the driving force behind the national increase,” said Cardno. “The rest of New Zealand experienced comparable growth.”

Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Marlborough and Otago also all saw increases in new dwelling consents in February.

The February 2013 value of non-residential building consents fell by 25% to $285 million compared with February 2012. Major contributors continued to be office and administration, education, storage and industrial buildings.

Reflecting February’s consent figures, the last quarter of 2012 saw continued growth in the volume and value of building activity in New Zealand. The seasonally adjusted value of all building work in the December quarter rose by 2.1%. The volume of residential building activity increased by 0.7%.