November building consents fall 47% from 2007 (Update 2)

The number of building consents issued in New Zealand during November fell 47% from the same month in 2007, figures released by Statistics New Zealand show. (Update 2 to include regional figures.) There were 1,168 consents issued for residential dwellings in November, down slightly from 1,173 in October. The November figure was a new low since January 1992. The latest figures will put further pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut the Official Cash Rate by a big margin on January 29, with market predictions currently hovering around 75 basis points.

The November figure was below economist expectations. ANZ-National didn't provide a numerical forecast, but said that it was perhaps "time for a bounce." The value of new residential consents in November fell 41% year-on-year to NZ$333 million, but was up only slightly from NZ$329 million in October. Apartment consents saw a big rise in November (116) from both October (50) and November 2007 (66). The number of factory and industrial building consents rose to its third highest figure (56) in more than two years. By region, there was a big jump in consents issued in Auckland in November from October, up to 325 from 205. However, November 2008 was still down from 514 consents issued a year before. In Wellington, the number of consents issued in November fell by 15 from October to 73. In November 2007, 177 were issued. Consents issued in Canterbury also fell from October, down 11 to 189. This was down from 370 in November 2007. The Bay of Plenty saw the biggest fall from October, down 52 to 55 consents issued. In November 2007, this was at 139. Home builders Jennian Homes were one of the first in the housing market to react to the latest figures, calling for government to take immediate action in order to revive the industry. "While interest rate cuts offer temporary relief to homeowners, alone they are not enough to prevent the collapse of New Zealand's building and construction industry," Jennian Homes Director Richard Carver said. "February's Parliamentary Bill to amend the Resource Management Act will be a good start towards making the building process easier, but a multi-pronged rescue plan needs to be put in place immediately to reverse the deepening crisis in the industry and restore consumer confidence in new home building."