Consents down again

Consent numbers for standalone and multi-unit homes have dropped for a second consecutive month

The number of standalone houses consented dropped 21% compared to the June 2022 quarter to 4,281 with the number of multi-unit homes down 18% to 5,607 over the same period. In total, 9,888 new homes were consented in the June 2023 quarter, 20% less than the June 2022 quarter.

“[This is] the second quarter in a row where there was a decrease in both the number of standalone houses and the number of multi-unit homes consented,” said Michael Heslop, Stats NZ Construction and Property Statistics Manager.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of new homes consented in the June 2023 quarter dropped 2.6% compared to the March 2023 quarter, which follows a seasonally adjusted fall of 8.8% in the March 2023 quarter.

A fall in annual homes consented

There was also a 12% decline to new homes consented in the year ended June 2023 (down to 44,529) compared to June 2022 – a similar total to the year ended June 2021 (44,331).

In terms of annual homes consented, the drop in standalone houses (-23% to 18,498) was much higher than the drop in multi-unit houses (-3% to 26,031), when compared to the year ended June 2022.

In the month of June 2023, there were 3,402 new dwellings consented, comprising 1,551 townhouses, flats and units, 1,515 standalone houses, 190 retirement village units and 146 apartments.

Smaller regions up

The traditional big hitters of Auckland (19,085 vs 21,609), Canterbury (7,838 vs 8,628), Waikato (4,265 vs 5,094), and Wellington (3,356 vs 3,892) consented fewer dwellings in the year ended June 2023 compared to the year ended June 2022.

However, some of New Zealand’s smaller regions experienced an increase in the number of dwellings consented year on year. Gisborne (182 vs 179), Tasman (577 vs 562), Nelson (276 vs 257) and Marlborough (285 vs 266) consented more homes in the year ended June 2023 compared to the year ended June 2022.

“In these four regions, the increase was driven by the growing number of multi-unit homes consented,” said Heslop.

Consents per 1,000 mirrors nationwide results

Consents per 1,000 residents reflected nationwide results as Gisborne (3.5 vs 3.4), Tasman (9.8 vs 9.6), Nelson (5.1 vs 4.7) and Marlborough (5.5 vs 5.1) experienced increases. Despite gathering the highest number of consents per 1,000 residents with 12, Canterbury still consented less than the year ended June 2022 (13.2).

Non-residential building consents mostly up

In the year ended June 2023, non-residential building consents totalled $10bn, up 11% from the year ended June 2022. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.6bn (up 23%).
• Hospitals, nursing homes, and health buildings – $1.6bn (up 56%).
• Education buildings – $1.5bn (down 8.8%).