Rising Trend in New Dwelling Units Continues

Rising Trend in New Dwelling Units Continues

Consents were issued for 2,498 new dwelling units in December 2003, according to Statistics New Zealand. Since April 2003, there has been a steady increase in the trend series for the number of new dwelling units.

Consents were issued for 29,801 new dwelling units in the 2003 calendar year, the highest total for a calendar year since 1976.

Eleven out of 16 regions recorded more new dwelling units in December 2003 compared with December 2002. Canterbury (up 124 units) recorded the largest increase in new dwelling units when comparing the two December months, followed by Waikato (up 82 units) and Wellington (up 56 units). Auckland (down 346 units) recorded the largest decrease, followed by Bay of Plenty (down 45 units). However, the Auckland region was the main contributor to the total number of new dwelling units with 835 units or 33 percent.

The total value of non-residential building consents issued in December 2003 was $262 million.

This follows totals of $255 million in October and November 2003. Consents issued for offices and administration buildings were worth $56 million or 21 percent of the total non-residential buildings value in December 2003. This was followed by shops, restaurants and taverns with $41 million (16 percent), storage buildings with $36 million (14 percent) and social, cultural and religious buildings, and education buildings, both with $29 million (11 percent).

The total value of consents issued for all buildings in December 2003 was $830 million.

Residential buildings contributed 68 percent of the total value for all buildings in December 2003, unchanged from December 2002. For the 2003 calendar year, the total value of consents for all buildings was $9,087 million, up $1,306 million or 17 percent when compared with the 2002 calendar year.

Brian Pink

Government Statistician

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