Home consents pick up in May

Building consents for new dwellings rose in May, Stats NZ said today.

The seasonally adjusted number of new homes consented rose 7.0 percent in May 2017, following a 7.4 percent fall in April, which was partly due to Easter.

Almost 2,800 new homes were consented in May, including over 2,000 stand-alone houses. The balance was made up of townhouses, flats, units, retirement village units, and apartments.

“The 2,039 stand-alone houses consented in May was the highest monthly number since June 2004,” prices, accommodation, and construction senior manager Jason Attewell said. “The trend for new homes is recovering after dipping in late 2016. It's more than double the level of the 2011 low point, and nearly back to the mid-2016 peak.”

Trends show the underlying pattern by removing volatility and seasonality in monthly statistics. The new homes trend generally decreased from 2004 to 2009, recovered temporarily in 2010, then generally increased until mid-2016 when it dipped briefly.

"In the year ended May 2017, 30,645 new homes were consented, and about one-third of these were in Auckland," Mr Attewell said.

For a new experimental series on subnational dwelling completions and stock estimates, see the Stats NZ Innovation website on 6 July 2017.

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