May consents down by a third from peak

The year ended May 2024 saw 16,164 fewer new homes consented from a peak of 51,015 in the year ended May 2022 – a 32% reduction in two years  

Having already dropped to 45,164 new homes consented in the year ended May 2023, the year ended May 2024 recorded 34,851 new homes consented – a 22.8% drop compared with the previous year. 

Of the total, 15,309 stand-alone homes were consented, a drop of 18.3% compared with the year ended May 2023. There were also 19,542 multi-unit homes consented, representing a 26.1% reduction compared with the previous 12-month period. Of the multi-unit homes, 2,013 were apartments and 1,704 were retirement village units.

“The annual number of homes consented has returned to a level last seen five years ago, but multi-unit homes now make up a much greater share of the total,” said NZ Stats Construction and Property Statistics Manager Michael Heslop. 

Multi-unit increase

The number of multi-unit homes consented in the year ended May 2019 was 13,200. In the year ended May 2024, the figure was 19,542 – a 48% increase over five years. In the same period, the number of stand-alone houses consented decreased from 21,509 to 15,309.

In the month of May 2024, 3,175 new homes were consented – 14.8% less than in the same period the previous year. Of the new homes consented, there were 1,620 multi-unit homes (-22.2%) and 1,555 stand-alone houses (-5.4%). Of the multi-unit homes, 1,424 were townhouses, flats and units, 109 apartments and 87 retirement village units.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of new homes consented in May 2024 fell 3.5%, following a 4.9% seasonally adjusted rise in April 2024.

Similar regional outlook 

Only Gisborne consented more dwellings in the year ended May 2024 compared to the previous year.

The four regions with the most consents issued were Auckland (14,488; -25.9%), Canterbury (6,752; -14.7%) Waikato (3,166; -25.4%) and Wellington (2,193; -35.9%).

Consents down per 1,000 residents   

In terms of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents, the figures for the year ended May 2024 declined compared with the year ended May 2023 (6.6 vs 8.7).

Three regions consented above national levels: Auckland (8.3), Otago (7.5) and Canterbury (10.1).

Non-residential building consents down

In the year ended May 2024, non-residential building consents totalled $9.2bn, down 7% from the year ended May 2023. The building types with the highest value were: 

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.5bn (-2.2%). 
• Storage buildings – $1.5bn (-0.8%). 
• Hospitals, nursing homes, and health buildings – $1.4bn (-9.4%)