March dwelling consents hit nine-year high

Dwelling consent numbers strongly recovered in March, after dropping at the start of the year. A total of 2,271 dwellings were consented, the most in a March month since 2006

Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwellings consented increased 11%, following February’s 6.5% decline. However, the trend – which was at record highs for much of last year – remains flat.

For houses only, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwelling consents increased 7.1%. A total of 1,640 houses were consented in March – the third highest in the last two years.

To the year ended March 2015, for all new dwellings, 11.9% more consents have been issued compared to the previous 12 months.

In the regions

Ten out of the 16 regions consented more new dwellings in March 2015 compared to March 2014. Auckland (up 195 to 756; +35%), Wellington (up 96 to 204; +89%) and Bay of Plenty (up 13 to 134; +11%) recorded the largest increases. Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Nelson, Northland, Southland, Tasman and the West Coast were the other regions to consent more dwellings than last March.

The biggest decreases were in Otago (down 24 to 94; -20%), Canterbury (down 16 to 588; -3%) and Waikato (down 13 to 219; -6%). The other regions to record a decrease were Gisborne, Marlborough and Taranaki.

All building consents total $1.4 billion

The total value of all building consents was $1.4 billion, including $925 of residential work and $427 million of non-residential work.

For the year ended March 2015 compared to the year ended March 2014, the value of building consents increased for:

• All buildings – up $2.1bn to $15bn (17%).
• Residential buildings – up $1.3bn to $9.7bn (15%).
• Non-residential buildings – up $0.9 million to $5.3bn (20%).