NZ house building consents bounce back in October

NZ house building consents bounce back in October, rise at fastest pace in two years

By Paul McBeth

Nov. 28 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand house building consents rose at their fastest monthly pace in more than two years in October, after three months of dwindling issuance in the lead-up to September's general election.

The number of new permits issued, excluding the volatile apartments series, rose 13 percent to 1,792 in October, the fastest pace since March 2012, according to Statistics New Zealand. Including consents for apartments and retirement village units, permits rose 8.8 percent to 1,990, the fastest pace since November 2013. On an unadjusted basis, total residential dwelling building consents rose 14 percent to 2,152 in October from the same month a year earlier, while permits excluding apartments were up 12 percent to 1,973.

Issuance of new building consents tapered off in the months leading up to the Sept. 20 general election and was cited as a reason for everything from lower business confidence to a drop off in share market activity, reduced house sales and investors dumping shares in power companies. The re-election of the National-led administration has been expected to see a resumption in activity after uncertainty caused by the opposition parties' proposal to introduce a capital gains tax.

Today's figures show Auckland's new issuance in October rose to 591 permits, including 67 apartments, from 476 permits in the same month a year earlier, while Canterbury reported 686 new permits from 572 in October 2013. Wellington issued 108 new permits from 169 a year earlier.

New dwelling issuance was up 22 percent to 24,363 in the year ended Oct. 30, of which housing permits were up 12 percent to 21,054. The value of all dwelling issuance was up 24 percent to $7.63 billion in the year.

The value of non-residential building permits rose 3.1 percent to $456 million in October from the same month a year earlier, and was up 15 percent on an annual basis to $4.91 billion.

(BusinessDesk)

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