Home consents strengthen as multi-unit dwellings drive annual growth

New residential consent figures for November 2025 – published in January – show continued momentum in New Zealand’s building sector, with annual new homes up 7% and monthly lifts reflecting gains in both stand-alone houses and higher-density dwellings

There were 35,969 new homes consented in the year ended November 2025, a 7.0% increase compared with the year ended November 2024. Multi-unit homes – including townhouses, flats and units – were the main contributor to this rise, growing faster than stand-alone houses.

“In the year to November 2025 multi-unit homes drove the increase in new homes consented,” Stats NZ Economic Indicators Spokesperson Michelle Feyen said. “That’s reflected in the number of townhouses, flats, and units being consented.”

Of the multi-unit homes consented over the year, townhouses, flats and units numbered 15,643, up 9.6% on the previous year, while apartments rose 49% to 2,647. Retirement village unit consents declined by 26% to 1,291. Stand-alone house consents increased 3.6% to 16,388 over the same period.

November monthly lift signals ongoing activity

In monthly terms, November 2025 saw 3,517 new homes consented, a 14% increase compared with November 2024. Both stand-alone houses and multi-unit homes contributed to that monthly rise.

Of the homes consented in November 2025, there were 1,607 stand-alone homes (+15%), 1,596 townhouses, flats and units (+11%), 130 retirement village units (+73%) and 184 apartments (-1.1%).

Seasonally adjusted data shows the number of new dwellings consented rose 2.8% in November 2025 after a 0.7% fall in October.

Consents per 1,000 residents unchanged 

The number of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents remained unchanged at 6.8 for the year ended November 2025 – a slight increase on November 2024’s 6.4 dwellings consented for 1,000 residents.

Three regions consented above national levels: Otago (10.5), Canterbury (10.2) and Auckland (8.4).

Regional outliers   

Ten regions consented more dwellings in the year ended November 2025 compared to the previous year. Nelson recorded the biggest percentage increase with 272 (+36%), followed by Southland with 406 (+27%), Otago 2,665 (+17.9%) and Wellington 2,141 (+16.4%).

The four regions with the most consents issued were:

• 15,252 in Auckland (+9.7%).
• 7,135 in Canterbury (+9.7%).
• 3,027 in Waikato (+6.7%).
• 2,141 in Wellington (+16.4%).

Mixed fortunes for non-residential consents

In the year ended November 2025, non-residential building consents totalled $8.8bn, down 6.9% from the year ended November 2024. This series can be influenced by price changes – non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 1.1% in the year ended September 2025. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration, and public transport buildings – $1.7bn (-9.6%).
• Factories – $1.4bn (+15%).
• Education buildings – $1.4bn (+22%).