A record 3098 new dwellings were consented in February, up 28.4% compared to February last year and the highest number for the month of February since records began in 1966, according to Statistics NZ.
Consents for all types of dwellings were up strongly compared to a year earlier, with the biggest growth occurring in consents for apartments which were up 235% compared to February last year, followed by retirement village units +154%, townhouses and units +11% and stand alone houses +9%.
Most of the apartment activity was in Auckland, which accounted for 419 of the 446 apartments consented in February.
On an annual basis there were 34,262 new dwellings consented in the 12 months to the end of February, up 9.7% compared to the previous 12 months.
Consents were particularly strong in Auckland, where 1354 new homes were consented in February, up 74% compared to February last year.
That followed a very strong month for Auckland consents in January.
Over the 12 months to the end of February, 13,847 new dwellings were consented in Auckland, up 25% from the previous 12 months.
Canterbury also put in a strong showing in February with 448 new dwelling consents issued, up 19.5% compared to February last year (see the interactive chart below for the full regional breakdown).
Non-residential building work is also showing growth, with $596 million of non-residential consents issued in February, up 13.3% compared to February last year.
In the 12 months to February, $7.178 billion of non-residential consents were issued, up 6.2% compared to the previous 12 months.
That included $1.143 billion of retail buildings, $1.089 billion of educational buildings, $973 million of storage buildings, $898 million of office buidlings, $858 million social, cultural and religeous buildings and $774 million of factories and industrial buildings.
The total value of all building consents issued in February was $1.926 billion which was up 14.7% compared to February last year, and in the 12 months to February $22.223 billion of building work of all types was consented, up 6.6% compared to the previous 12 months.
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Building consents - residential
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