Wellington apartments boost consent growth

April 2013 saw the highest number of new dwellings consented since April 2008, with Wellington leading the growth. With 1,755 new build consents issued nationally, including 214 apartments, consent numbers increased 43% compared with April 2012.

“While the numbers were higher in Canterbury and Auckland this month, compared with April 2012, the rest of the country also made a significant contribution to the increase,” said industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno.

“Wellington and Otago regions boosted new consent numbers, with 185 of the 214 new apartments during April 2013.”

During April 2013, Wellington issued 238 new dwelling consents (up 159 on April 2012) and Otago issued 115 (62 more than April 2012). Wellington led consent growth in April 2013, followed by Canterbury (up 115 to 397), Auckland (up 71 to 431) and Otago. Hawke’s Bay was the only region that issued fewer dwelling consents.

Seasonal adjustment

The seasonally adjusted number of new houses, including apartments, rose 19% in April 2013 compared to March 2013. This is the greatest increase since a 23% rise in March 2012. Non-apartment dwellings increased 13%, the biggest rise since August 2011.

The value of new residential builds consented grew 48% to $540 million for April 2013 compared to April 2012. The trend for new dwelling consents including apartments has increased 61% over the past 25 months. New build consent numbers excluding apartments are also trending upward, now 63% higher than the low in March 2011.

Non-residential value

The non-residential building consent value in April 2013 rose to $308 million, 35% up on the same time last year to. Offices and administration buildings ($500 million), education buildings ($47 million) and shops, restaurants and taverns ($47 million) were the major contributors.

Quake-related building consents in Canterbury were worth $52 million in April 2013; $27 million was residential, $25 million non-residential and $0.2 million non-building work.  This did not include seismic strengthening or demolition work.

The total number of quake-related consents since 4 September 2010 is over 4,200 and is valued at over $990 million. This covered 800 new dwellings, of which 150 were re-locatable units.

Canterbury construction

Canterbury building activity increased 1.5% (current price, seasonally adjusted) in the December 2012 quarter, compared with 1.3% nationally. In the September 2012 quarter, building activity leapt to 30% as the rest of the country experienced a 5% increase.

The value of all building consents for year end April 2013 compared with April 2012 was up 18.2% to $10.6 bn. Residential building consents value rose 26.1% to $6.66 bn and non-residential buildings increased by 6.9% to $3.95 bn.

For all building consents in April 2013, the value rose to $954 million – 41% up compared with $677 million the same time last year.