Dwelling Consents Remain at High Levels

Consents were issued for 2,105 new dwelling units in August 2002, according to Statistics New Zealand. For the 12 months ended August 2002, the number of new dwelling units has averaged about 2,000 per month. This compares with an average of about 1,600 new dwelling units per month for the year ended August 2001. The average level per month for the year ended August 2002 is similar to that for the year ended August 1999.

Since November 2000, the trend series for the number of new dwellings has been increasing at an average rate of 1.4 percent per month. After increasing steadily for the last 20 months, the trend appears to be levelling off at about 2,000 dwelling units per month.

The seasonally adjusted series for new dwellings decreased 18.3 percent in August 2002, after increasing by 15.7 percent in July. The volatility in the seasonally adjusted series for the number of new dwellings is due, to some extent, to fluctuations in the number of new apartments. In August 2002, consents for 232 new apartment units were issued compared with 686 in July, and 183 in June 2002.

For the month of August 2002, the total value of non-residential building consents issued was $218 million. Consents issued for shops, restaurants and taverns were worth $42 million, 19 percent of the non-residential buildings total. Consents for factories and industrial buildings contributed $38 million or 18 percent.

The total value of consents issued for all buildings in August 2002 was $638 million. Residential buildings contributed 66 percent of the total for all buildings in August 2002, compared with 64 percent for August 2001.

Brian Pink Government Statistician

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