South Island consents stay strong

For the year ended April 2025, South Island consent numbers continued to perform strongly, rising by 3.8% in contrast to the North Island’s 8.8% decline 

Across New Zealand there were 33,554 new homes consented in the year ended April 2025 – a 5.2% reduction when compared to the year ended April 2024. However, the South Island saw a 3.8% increase during the same period, with 10,385 new homes consented. In comparison, the North Island recorded 23,168 new home consents – a drop of 8.8%. 

“The drop in number of new homes consented in April 2025 may have been impacted by the timing of Easter weekend and Anzac Day, with people potentially taking time off in between,” said Stats NZ Economic Indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen.  

Of the 33,554 new homes consented nationwide in the year ended April 2025, there were 15,769 stand-alone houses – an increase of 2.4%. There were 11.1% fewer consents for multi-unit homes, which numbered 17,785. Of these, there were: 

• 14,192 townhouses, flats and units (-12%). 

• 2,090 apartments (-1.8%). 

• 1,503 retirement village units (-12%). 

Regional outliers 

Five regions consented more dwellings in the year ended April 2025 compared to the previous year. First was Otago with 2,649 (+36.1%), followed by Taranaki with 488 (+26.8%), Gisborne with 170 (+6.3%), Tasman with 285 (+2.9%), and Nelson, which consented 223 (+0.5%). 

The four regions with the most consents issued were: 

• 13,748 in Auckland (-6.2%). 

• 6,505 in Canterbury (-3%). 

• 2,882 in Waikato (-11.5%). 

• 1,869 in Wellington (-21.8%).  

Month-vs-month drop across all dwelling types 

When compared to the same month last year, April 2025 saw a drop of 2,418 new dwellings consented – a decrease of 17.4% compared to the month of April 2024. Of the 2,418 new dwellings consented, there were 1,105 townhouses, flats and units (-14.7%), 1,148 stand-alone houses (-5.2%), 80 apartments (-18.4%) and 85 retirement village units (-52.2%). 

Consents down per 1,000 residents  

In terms of dwellings consented per 1,000 residents, the figures for the year ended April 2025 declined compared with the year ended April 2024 (6.3 vs 6.7). Three regions consented above national levels: Otago (10.5), Canterbury (9.5) and Auckland (7.6).  

Non-residential building consents down 

In the year ended April 2025, non-residential building consents totalled $8.9bn, down 7.6% from the year ended April 2024. However, offices, administration and public transport buildings increased by 14%. The building types with the highest value were: 

• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.8bn (+14%). 

• Storage buildings – $1.3bn (-10%). 

• Factories – $1.2bn (-6.1%). 

 Consent processing times down 

During the first quarter of 2025, there were 16,271 building consents and 15,574 applications for Code Compliance Certificates (CCC) processed. Out of all applications, 92.7% were processed within the statutory timeframe (20 working days) – the median processing time for these applications was 12.6 working days. 

The median processing time for CCCs was four working days, with 96.8% of applications processed within the statutory timeframe (20 working days). All 76 Building Consent Authorities had a median processing time at or below the statutory timeframe. 

The median time to process all applications (building consent applications, amendments, and CCCs) was 7.5 days for residential buildings and 12 days for commercial buildings. 95.6% of residential applications and 89.4% of commercial applications were processed within the statutory timeframe, while most of the applications processed (81%) were for residential buildings.