Highest Sept New Dwelling Units in 30 Years

Highest September Number of New Dwelling Units in 30 Years

Consents were issued for 2,989 new dwelling units in September 2003, according to Statistics New Zealand. This is the highest number of new dwelling units recorded for a September month since 1973. Since April 2003, there has been a steady rise in the trend series for the number of new dwelling units.

Consents were issued for 2,342 new dwelling units, excluding apartment units, for September 2003 – the third largest total since the series began in January 1990. This follows totals of 2,390 units in August 2003 and 2,348 units in July 2003. The trend series for the number of new dwelling units, excluding apartment units, continues to rise.

In September 2003, consents were issued for 647 new apartment units. This is the highest monthly total recorded for 2003.

Twelve out of 16 regions recorded more new dwelling units in September 2003 compared with September 2002. Auckland (up 311 units) recorded the largest increase in new dwelling units when comparing the two September months, followed by Waikato (up 140 units) and Canterbury (up 85 units). Wellington (down 64 units) recorded the largest decrease. Consents issued for apartment units with a value greater than $3 million were all from the Auckland region. These consents contributed 541 apartment units or 84 percent of the total number for September 2003.

The Auckland region continued to be the main contributor to the total number of new dwellings with 1,351 or 45 percent.

The total value of non-residential building consents issued in September 2003 was $256 million.

This follows totals of $212 million in August 2003 and $310 million in July 2003. Consents issued for hotels and motels were worth $58 million, 23 percent of the total non-residential buildings value in September 2003, followed by shops, restaurants and taverns with $38 million or 15 percent, offices and administration buildings with $32 million or 13 percent, and hospitals and nursing homes with $29 million or 11 percent.

The total value of consents issued for all buildings in September 2003 was $853 million. Residential buildings contributed 70 percent of the total value for all buildings in September 2003, compared with 62 percent for September 2002. For the year ended September 2003, the total value of consents for all buildings was $8,642 million, up $1,128 million or 15 percent when compared with the year ended September 2002.

Brian Pink

Government Statistician

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