Residential building consents fell to 1,127 in December, the lowest monthly total since January 1987, when 1,077 dwelling consents were awarded, figures from Statistics New Zealand show. December 2008 consents fell 35% from December 2007.
The value of consents issued in December 2008 fell 18.8% to NZ$440 million from December 2007, while for the year ended December 2008, the value of consents fell 19.8% from 2007.
House consents (excluding apartments) have basically halved to 1,000 a month since mid-2007.
The latest figures come after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the Official Cash Rate by another 150 basis points to 3.5% on January 29, down from 8.25% in July 2008. Despite the fall in the OCR, building consents fell 53% in December from their 2008 peak in April.
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