Building consents rose in July to 1,473 compared with 1,373 in June, and 21% higher than the same month a year ago.
Driving the rise was a big jump in consents for apartments, which rose to 203 in the month, making it the highest for apartment consents since May 2009.
More than half of those apartment consents were for retirement units, and most of those were in the Bay of Plenty.
The value of consents issued for residential buildings rose 11% to $48 million for July 2010 compared with July 2009.
In contrast, the value for non-residential buildings fell 21% to $78 million. Consent values remain at low levels.
Reflecting long-term behaviour, the trend for the total number of new housing units authorised has been increasing since early 2009. However, the level is only half of what it was at the peak in January 2004.
Excluding apartments, the trend appears to have reached a turning point and has fallen in recent months (following increases that began in April 2009), Statistics NZ said.
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