Building consents trend hits seven-year high

Canterbury rebuild continues to push dwelling consents up

The seasonally adjusted trend for the number of new dwellings consented, including apartments, rose 3.5% to its highest level since August 2007. In June, 1,950 new dwellings were consented, including 197 apartments. The trend has more than doubled since the series low in March 2011, but is still 26% below the January 2004 series peak.

New dwelling consents in Auckland (553) and Canterbury (623) accounted for 60% of the new dwelling consents. Of the 197 new apartment consents, 120 were in Auckland, 49 in Canterbury and the rest were spread across the country.

“The trend [for new dwelings] has more than doubled since the series low in March 2011, but is still 26% below the January 2004 series peak

Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwelling consents, excluding apartments, increased 2.9% to 1,753, the highest level since November 2007, although 20% below the September 2003 peak.

Consented dwellings increase in nine regions

Compared to June 2013, new dwelling consents, including apartments, rose in nine out of the 16 regions. The largest increases were in Canterbury (up 254 to 623), Waikato (up 79 to 218) and Auckland (up 48 to 553). The other regions to record an increase were Northland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago.

The largest decreases in new dwellings consented, including apartments, were in the Hawkes Bay (down 18 to 29), Manawatu-Wanganui (down 13 to 23) and Nelson (down 6 to 10). Other regions to record a decrease were Taranaki, West Coast, Tasman and Southland.

Non-residential consents on the rise

In the June 2014 quarter, non-residential consents rose 13%. It is the highest the quarterly trend has ever been and is up 53% from the seven-year low in June 2011.

In June, the value of non-residential consents rose to $490 million (not adjusted for inflation), up 33% on June 2013 (the second-highest ever recorded – the highest being $530 million in April 2009) Auckland and Christchurch cities drove the increase, with $171 million and $165 million non-residential consents respectively.