Seven months of annual home consent growth

New dwelling consents rose 11.7% in the year to February 2026 compared with the previous year, marking seven consecutive months of annual growth

In total, 37,534 new homes were consented in the year ended February 2026 – an increase of 11.7% compared with the year ended February 2025. This included 20,445 multi-unit homes (up 15.2%) and 17,089 stand-alone homes (up 7.8%).

“The annual number of new home consents has increased for seven consecutive months,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.

Of the multi-unit homes consented, there were 16,303 townhouses, flats and units (+14.6% compared with the year ended February 2025), 2,467 apartments (+34.3%) and 1,675 retirement village units (-0.2%).

In the month of February 2026, there were 3,168 new dwellings consented – an increase of 22.6% compared to February 2025. This number comprised 1,532 stand-alone houses (+28.6%), 1,305 townhouses, flats and units (+10.9%), 190 retirement village units (+90%) and 141 apartments (+28.2%).

Regions on the up

Nine regions consented more dwellings in the year ended February 2026 compared to the previous year. Southland recorded the biggest increase with 463 (+50.3%), followed by Nelson with 285 (+28.4%), Wellington with 2,138 (+18.1%), Canterbury with 7,721 (+16.1%), Auckland with 15,972 (+16.0%), Gisborne with 189 (+13.9%), Otago with 2,698 (+10.5%), Waikato with 2,992 (+4.9%) and Manawatū-Whanganui, which consented 1,101 (+1.9%).

The four regions with the most consents issued were:

• 15,972 in Auckland (+16.0%).
• 7,721 in Canterbury (+16.1%).
• 2,992 in Waikato (+4.9%).
• 2,698 in Otago (+10.5%).

Increased consents per 1,000 residents  

The number of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents increased to 7.1 for the year ended February 2026, compared to 6.3 in the year ended February 2025.

Three regions consented above national levels: Canterbury (11.1), Otago (10.6) and Auckland (8.8).

Slight uptick in non-residential building consents

In the year ended February 2026, non-residential building consents totalled $8.9bn, up 0.7% from the year ended February 2025. This series can be influenced by price changes – non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 1.5 percent in the year ended December 2025.