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Fewer new homes now being completed in Auckland compared to the second half of last year

Property
Fewer new homes now being completed in Auckland compared to the second half of last year

Construction of new homes in Auckland may have already peaked.

The latest figures from Auckland Council show it issued 990 Code Compliance Certificates (CCCs) for newly completed dwellings in April.

That was down by 30% from the 1412 issued in March.

However the April 2021 figure was well up from the 549 CCCs issued for new dwellings in April last year which was affected by pandemic lockdown restrictions. It was also was up 64% compared to the 605 CCCs issued in April 2019.

The annual figures suggest residential construction in Auckland remains extremely buoyant.

In the 12 months to the end of April, 13,209 CCCs were issued for new dwellings in Auckland, which was the highest number for any 12 month period, according to Auckland Council figures which go back to December 2013.

But a closer look at the figures suggests that much of that growth in new dwelling completions occurred in the second half of last year, with completions running at lower levels so far this year.

Over the three months from February to April this year the average number of CCCs issued for new dwellings in Auckland each month was 1148, down by 12% compared to the monthly average over the three months from September to November last year.

The drop off in the number of new dwellings being completed in Auckland so far this year compared to the second half of last year can clearly be seen in the graph below, which shows the number of CCCs issued each month since the beginning of last year.

However there is another factor which may affect those figures.

Multi-unit dwellings such as apartments and terrace housing make up a very large proportion of Auckland's new housing market, accounting for 64% of new dwelling consents issued in the 12 months to April this year.

Many of these are large scale projects and their completion figures can be volatile.

It would only take a few large, multi-unit housing projects to be completed in a particular month to bump up the Auckland figures back to where they were last year.

So we probably need to wait another couple of months to get a more reliable indication of where residential construction in Auckland is heading at the moment.

But so far, the figures suggest residential construction in Auckland may have peaked towards the end of last year.

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16 Comments

What I'm dealing with right now is redesign because certain dimensions of timber are unavailable. Supply disruptions are creating a risk of slowing or stopping work. Other builders are complaining to me over the difficulty finding staff. These resource constraints are highly problematic.

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Stop buying chinese shit products and pay workers more. Boo hoo

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And put house prices up.

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Some developers are asking for new homes 20%-40% above cost, so there's plenty of room to improve builders salaries and materials or prices to fall.

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The problem is that certain materials have 3-4 month delay if you can get them at all. As to paying enough - is $65.00+gst per hour enough - or do you have another figure in mind? Really like to hear back on that!

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I'm not sure what Chinese products you are talking about but you can throw away your Chinese made smartphone if you want.

For the workers they could be paid lawyer rates at $800/hour given they are more useful. People already complain about the costs so nothing will change.

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Why is it that in the US and UK house building surges when interest rates go down, driving cost of materials upwards, but in New Zealand house building declines?

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In Auckland City it is because the council likes to keep land supply extremely tight and so when interest rates fall it means the cost of land accelerates much faster than the price of housing.

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And in Wellington, the NIMBY capital of the world. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125456002/more-of-wellington-to-be-pro…

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There is already enough land allocated for housing in Auckland. The city is the definition of urban sprawl.

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Much of Auckland has height restrictions, setback requirements and prescriptive rules around the area of a section that can be built upon. The city sprawls by design.

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Urban sprawl is largely defined by affordable housing. Auckland homes are the 4th least affordable on the planet.

Auckland is an exurban sprawl, opening up vast tracts of land around its exurbs and shutting off land around the urban area. In doing so Auckland planners manage to create a trifecta of horribleness - unaffordable housing, worsening commutes and soaring development costs.

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Exactly, the restrictions cause land prices to increase, driving people to the fringe and beyond looking for something affordable. The irony is in trying to have a compact city, they encourage sprawl.

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Pretty poor these figures aren’t broken down by single dwelling and multi-dwelling consent types, would give a far better idea of what the market is doing.

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Re "The drop off in the number of new dwellings being completed in Auckland so far this year compared to the second half of last year can clearly be seen in the graph below, which shows the number of CCCs issued each month since the beginning of last year."

The limited period of the graph of monthly certificates issues shows the period January to March has a lower number of certificates issues than the rest of the year, so maybe there is no issue here.

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exactly, it was called lock down. Then there was a surge 2nd half of last year after lock down lifted

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