It looks increasingly likely that the recent residential building slump has bottomed out, with the latest building consent figures showing almost no change on the year to July.
According to Statistics NZ, 33,879 new dwellings were consented throughout the country in the 12 months to the end of July this year, barely changed (-0.1%) from the 33,921 consented in the 12 months to July 2024.
That followed a 22% decline in the number of new dwellings consented in the year to July 2024 compared to the year to July 2023.
In the month of July, 3252 new dwellings were consented, down just 3.0% from the 3352 new dwellings consented in the year to July 2024.
The figures also hint that recent escalations in building costs may also have flattened out, with the average build costs of new dwellings consented rising by just over $4000, from an average $452,964 over the 12 months to July 2024, to $457,245 in the 12 months to July this year.
The biggest changes in the types of dwellings consented in the year to July was a jump in the number apartments and a drop in the number of retirement village units.
There were 2270 new apartments consented in the 12 months to July this year, up 26.4% compared to the previous 12 months, while stand alone houses were the most popular type of new dwelling, with 15,685 consented in the year to July, up 1.7% on the previous 12 months.
Townhouses and home units were the second most common type of dwelling, with 14,441 consented in the 12 months to July, -3.4% compared to the previous 12 months, with 1483 retirement village units consented, -15.6% compared to the previous 12 months.
Auckland and Otago were the only main centres to go against the national trend and post increases in new dwellings consented in the year to July, compared to the previous 12 months, with 14,347 new dwellings consented in Auckland (+5.0%) and 2433 consented in Otago (+14.9%).
Annual declines were recorded in Waikato -7.1%, Bay of Plenty -7.8%, Wellington Region -7.4% and Canterbury -2.8%.
The interactive graphs below show the monthly trends in residential consents by region and dwelling type.
Building consents - residential
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Building consents - type
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2 Comments
It feels like the start line is being pushed out further. Whatever costs have come back due to materials being more available, labour market softer and land prices receding have been offset by increased development contributions and fees.
and water care connections being on hold in many locations
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