There was a jump in the number of new homes completed in Auckland in July, although the longer term trend still suggests residential construction activity in the region is at or near the bottom of its recent slump.
Auckland Council issued 1539 Code Compliance Certificates (CCCs) for new dwellings in July.
That was up by 22% compared to June this and was the first time in the last 12 months that CCC issuance has been above 1500, although it was still down by 5% compared to July last year.
CCCs are issued when a building is completed and are the most accurate measure of new housing supply.
However the monthly figures can be volatile, particularly in Auckland because of the high number of apartment blocks and other big, multi unit developments.
The timing of these big projects' completion can have a substantial impact on the monthly completion figures.
A better indication of the long term trend is the 12 month rolling average, which smoothes out much of the volatility of the monthly figures.
Over the 12 months to the end of July, an average 1280 CCCs a month were issued for new dwellings in Auckland, barely changed from the average of 1286 a month over the 12 months to June and 1296 in May.
That suggests that the number of new homes being completed is still declining slightly, but has now almost flattened out.
This trend is clearly evident in the graph below.
The latest figures suggest the average number of new homes being completed in Auckland has declined by 21.5% since it peaked at 1630 in May last year, or put another way, around an average of 350 fewer homes are being completed in the Auckland Region each month compared to a year ago.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.