The number of new homes being consented continues to show solid growth, with multi-unit developments such as apartments and town houses leading the way.
The latest figures from Statistics NZ show that 3406 new dwellings were consented throughout the country in October, up 16.4% compared to October last year.
In the 12 months to October 36,926 new dwellings were consented, up 12.2% compared to the previous 12 months.
That was made up of 4592 apartments (+19.7%), 2443 retirement village units (+28.9%), 7838 townhouses and home units (+24.9%), and 22,053 stand alone houses (+5.4%).
Those consents had a combined construction value of $13.7 billion, excluding land and some other non-construction costs, which was up 13.3% on the previous 12 months.
In addition, another $2 billion of residential alteration work was consented, taking the total value of all residential consents issued in the 12 months to October to $15.7 billion, up 11.1% on the previous 12 months.
A further $7.6 billion of non-residential building work, such as offices, shops, warehouses, hospitals and school buildings was consented in the 12 months to October, up 12.1% on the previous 12 months.
That took the total value of residentail and non-residential construction consented in the year to October to $23.3 billion, up 11.4% on the previous 12 months.
In Auckland 1361 new dwellings were consented in the month of October, up 26.4% compared to October last year, while 14,918 new dwellings were consented in the 12 months to October, up 14.1% on the previous 12 months.
In Wellington 2991 dwellings were consented in the year to October, up 12.5% on the previous 12 months. In Canterbury 5233 new dwellings were consented, up 12.8%. In Otago 2256 new dwellings were consented, up 10.4%.
Construction of new homes appears to be playing catch up in the Waikato, where 4193 new homes were consented in the 12 months to October, up 17.1% on the previous 12 months. However, that follows a 0.4% decline in the 12 months prior to that, and growth of just 0.5% in the 12 months prior to that.
And new dwelling construction remains sluggish in the Bay of Plenty, where 2140 new dwellings were consented in the year to October, up just 2.1% on the previous 12 months. That follows a 17.5% decline in the 12 months to October 2018, and growth of just 1.4% in the 12 months prior to that.
See the interactive chart below for the full regional trends.
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