Monthly residential value passes $1bn

The value of residential building consents surpassed $1 billion for the first time in November

New dwelling consents hit a ten-year high in November, according to the latest data from Statistics New Zealand. A total of 2,831 new dwellings were consented, compared to 2,420 the previous year. This marks the highest monthly total since March 2005 (3,027), previously held by July’s figure of 2,824 new dwelling consents. 

The total included 1,864 houses, 270 apartments and 321 retirement village units. Statistics NZ business indicators manager Clara Eatherley said November is usually a big month for consents and that 2015 “was no exception”. 

“Dwelling consents were up 17% from the year before, driven by increases for houses and retirement villages,”
Ms Eatherley said.

Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwellings consented rose 1.8% compared to October, with the trend increasing 0.6% to its highest level since July 2004. For houses only, the trend increased 0.2%.

In the regions

Compared to November 2014, new dwelling consents increased in 12 out of the 16 regions. The three biggest increases were in Wellington (up 224 to 328; +215%), Bay of Plenty (up 113 to 227; +99%) and Waikato (up 103 to 284; +57%). Gisborne, Manawatu-Wanganui, Marlborough, Nelson, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki and Tasman were the other regions to record an increase.

Canterbury (down 153 to 573; -21%), the West Coast (down 8 to 3; -73%) and Hawke’s Bay (down 4 to 34; -11%) recorded the largest decreases. Auckland (966) was the only other region to record a decrease, but still accounted for the most new dwelling consents in the country.

Ms Eatherley said that a spike in consents for apartments (100) and retirement village units (90) in Wellington contributed to the unusually high number of dwellings consented in the region.

Consents total $1.6 billion 

The total value of building work consented in November 2015 was a record $1.6 billion. It comprised of $1.1 billion of residential work and $531 million of non-residential.

It’s the first time ever that the value of residential consents has eclipsed the billion-dollar mark, but Ms Eatherley added it is worth remembering that the values are not inflation adjusted.

For the year ended November 2015, compared to the previous corresponding period, the value of building consents increased for:

• All buildings – up $1.7bn (12%) to $16bn.
• Residential buildings – up $956m (10%) to $10bn.
• Non-residential buildings – up $733m (14%) to $5.8bn.