Otago alone in bucking consents trend

The number of new homes consented in the year ended December 2024 dropped by 9.8% when compared to the year ended December 2023 – so why did Otago buck the trend?

There were 33,600 new homes consented in the year ended December 2024 – a 9.8% drop when compared to the year ended December 2023. Of the total, 15,780 were stand-alone houses (+0.7%) and 17,820 multi-unit homes (-17%), consisting of 14,141 townhouses, flats and units (-15.7%), 1,981 apartments (-21.3%) and 1,698 retirement village units (-25.1%).

“The number of retirement village units consented in 2024 was the lowest for a calendar year in more than a decade,” said Stats NZ Economic Indicators spokesperson Michael Heslop.

Otago was the only region to consent more homes in the year ended December 2024 than it did in the corresponding period last year (2,338; +18.8%). In general, Otago punched above its weight in 2024, said Heslop.

“The increase in the Otago region was largely driven by the Queenstown-Lakes district,” he said. “Over 1,500 new homes were consented in [that] district last year. Only Auckland and Christchurch city consented more homes in 2024.”

Regional outlook

While Otago was the only region to consent more new homes in the year ended December 2024 than the previous 12-month period, it consented less than half of Auckland (13,939; -10%) and Canterbury (6,544; -6%). Waikato (2,755; -22.4%) consented the third most new homes, with Otago fourth and Wellington fifth (1,833; -24.5%).

In terms of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents, the figures for the year ended December 2024 declined compared with the year ended December 2023 (6.3 vs 7.1). Three regions consented above national levels: Auckland (7.8), Otago (9.1) and Canterbury (9.4).

Monthly reduction but multi-unit up again

There were 2,478 new homes consented in the month of December 2024 – a 0.4% reduction when compared to the month of December 2023 (2,487). Of the 2,478 new homes consented, 1,052 were stand-alone houses and 1,426 were multi-unit homes. The number of stand-alone houses consented dropped 3.9% when compared to December 2023, while the number of multi-unit consents increased by 2.4%.

Of the 1,426 multi-unit homes, 360 were apartments, 68 were retirement village units and 998 were townhouses, flats and units.

Non-residential consents down

In the year ended December 2024, non-residential building consents totaled $9.3bn, down 0.9% from the year ended December 2023. The building types with the highest value were:

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.8bn (+24%).
• Hospitals, nursing homes, and health buildings – $1.3bn (-2.9%).
• Storage buildings – $1.3bn (-13%).