The residential construction industry made a strong start to the year, with the number of new dwelling consents up strongly on both a monthly and annual basis.
According to Statistics NZ, building consents were issued for 2528 new dwellings in January, up 14.8% compared to January last year.
In the 12 months to January this year, consents were issued for 36,944 new dwellings, up 9.3% compared to the 12 months to January 2025.
That was the most new homes consented for that time period in the last three years.
Standalone houses remained the most popular type of new dwelling, with 16,748 consented in the 12 months to January this year, up 5.0% compared to the previous 12 months.
That was closely followed by townhouses and home units with 16,175 consented, a rise of 13.8%.
Apartments also made strong gains, with 2436 consented in the 12 months to January this year, up 26.5%.
However, retirement village units remain in the doldrums. Just 1585 were consented in the 12 months to January, down 7.7% compared to the previous 12 months, following declines of 13.5% and 36.6% over the two previous years to January.
The number of retirement village units being consented has now halved over the last three years.
The total estimated value of building work for the new dwellings consented is also on the up at $16.702 billion for the 12 months to January, up 7.7% compared to the previous 12 months. That's the highest it has been in the last three years.
However, the non-residential construction sector is not looking so robust. That's because the $8.9 billion of non-residential building work consented in the 12 months to January was down 0.3% on the 12 months to January 2025.
That followed a decline of 9.7% in the 12 months to January 2025 compared to the 12 months to January 2024.
A quarterly analysis of residential building consent trends, including average build cost and average cost per square metre by dwelling type, is available here.
The interactive chart below shows the monthly trends in residential dwelling consent numbers by dwelling type.
Building consents - type
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