Multi-unit homes up by a third

The year ended July 2022 saw a 35% increase in the annual number of new multi-unit homes consented compared to the year ended July 2021

There were 27,287 multi-unit homes consented in the year ended July 2022. At the same time, the number of standalone houses consented shrunk by 6.4% to 23,327.

“Since the year ended March 2022, multi-unit homes have made up a larger proportion of the homes consented annually compared with stand-alone houses,” said Construction and Property Statistics Manager Michael Heslop

“The annual number of multi-unit homes consented has increased nearly nine-fold in the last decade.”

The number of new dwellings consented in the year ended July 2022 –  50,614 – was an increase of 12% compared to the year ended July 2021.

Heslop added that consent numbers were kept high by the increased popularity of multi-unit homes in Auckland.

In the month of July 2022 there were 4,100 new dwellings consented, comprising 1,853 townhouses, flats and units, 1,730 stand-alone houses, 320 retirement village units and 197 apartments.

Regional record breaking

Auckland and Wellington broke records for the highest number of new dwellings consented in the year ended July 2022 compared to the year ended July 2021 – with 21,743 (up 13%) and 3,927 (up 20%) new homes consented respectively.

There were also big gains for Canterbury (8,556 or 26% more new homes) and Otago (2,473 or 20% more homes).

The seasonally adjusted number of new homes consented in July 2022 rose 5% compared with July 2021. This decline followed a seasonally adjusted fall of 2.2% in June 2022.

Canterbury continues to boom

New homes consented per 1,000 residents across New Zealand in the year ended July 2022 was 9.9, up from 8.8 in the year ended July 2021.

Among the biggest increases were Canterbury, which rose from 10.5 homes consented per 1,000 residents to 13.2, and Auckland (11.2 to 12.7). Conversely, Nelson (4.9 to 4.6), Taranaki (6.6 to 5.6) and Bay of Plenty (7.3 to 6.9) suffered drops.

Non-residential building consents resume

In the year ended July 2022, non-residential building consents totalled $9bn, up 14% from the year ended July 2021. Non-residential construction prices as measured by the capital goods price index rose 11% in the year ended June 2022.

The building types with the highest value were:

• Education buildings – $1.5bn (up 12%).
• Storage buildings – $1.4bn (up 46%).
• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.4 billion (up 29%).