Multi-unit home consents up 36%

More than 50,000 new homes were consented in the year ended June 2022 – the fourth time in a row the milestone has been reached

The number of new homes consented in the year ended June 2022 increased 14% from the year ended June 2021 to 50,736. That figure comprised 26,823 multi-unit homes and 23,913 stand-alone houses.

The number of multi-unit homes increased 36% compared to June 2021, while there was a 3% reduction in the number of stand-alone homes consented.

In the month of June 2022, 4,037 new dwellings were consented. Of these, there were 1,834 townhouses, flats and units, 1,751 stand-alone houses, 289 apartments and 163 retirement village units. 

Mixed figures

Despite the overall number of consents remaining high, the number of standalone houses consented – which peaked in August 2021 – has decreased 21% over the past year.

“Home consents have remained near historically high levels, with a decrease in stand-alone houses being largely offset by high levels of consenting activity for multi-unit homes,” said Construction and Property Statistics Manager Michael Heslop.

There has also been a 2.3% seasonally adjusted fall in the number of new homes consented in the month of June 2022 compared with May 2022, which saw a 0.5% fall. The seasonally adjusted number of stand-alone houses fell 5.5% in June 2022, following a 1.6% fall in May 2022.

Regional record breaking

Canterbury set a new annual record for new homes consented in the year ended June 2022, with 8,628 homes consented. This is the highest ever number of new homes consented in a year in Canterbury, and a 33% increase compared with the year ended June 2021.

Other high performers were:

• Wellington with 3,892 (21% increase on previous year).
• Auckland with 21,609 (14% increase on previous year).
• Waikato with 5,094 (9% increase on previous year).

Canterbury also consented the highest number of homes per 1,000 residents in the year ended June 2022 (13.3). Auckland (12.6), Waikato (10.1) and Otago (10.1) rounded out the top four.

New homes consented per 1,000 residents across New Zealand was 9.9, up from 8.7 in the year ended June 2021.

Among the biggest increases were Canterbury, which rose from 10 homes consented per 1,000 residents to 13.3 and Auckland (11.1 to 12.6). Conversely, Tasman (10.7 to 9.7) and Bay of Plenty (7.3 to 7) suffered drops.

Non-residential building consents resume

In the year ended June 2022, non-residential building consents totalled $9bn, up 16% from the year ended June 2021. The building types with the highest value were:

• Education buildings – $1.6bn (up 11%).
• Storage buildings – $1.5bn (up 54%).
• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.3 billion (up 26%).