New Zealand Building Consents Climb 5.1% In December

(RTTNews) - The total number of building permits issued in New Zealand advanced a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent on month in December, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday - standing at 2,382.

That following the upwardly revised 1.9 percent decline in November (originally -2.0 percent).

In the year ended December 2018, the actual number of new dwellings consented was 32,996, up 6.1 percent from the December 2017 year.

The annual value of non-residential building work consented was NZ$7.1 billion, up 9.0 percent from the December 2017 year.

Individually, consents were issued for 1,492 stand-alone houses, 451 townhouses, flats, and units, 273 apartments and 166 retirement village units.

For stand-alone houses only, the seasonally adjusted number fell 3.2 percent, after rising 1.4 percent in November and 6.0 percent in October.

In the year ended December 2018, 32,996 new dwellings were consented nationally, up 6.1 percent from the December 2017 year.

By region, the numbers of new homes consented in the latest year were: 12,862 in Auckland - up 18 percent; 3,742 in Waikato - up 6.7 percent; 2,731 in Wellington - up 19 percent; 5,521 in rest of North Island - down 6.3 percent; 4,769 in Canterbury - down 4.7 percent; and 3,363 in rest of South Island - down 4.4 percent.

In the year ended December 2018, non-residential building consents totaled NZ$7.1 billion, up 9.0 percent from the December 2017 year. This series can be influenced by price changes - non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) rose 4.6 percent in the September 2018 year.

In the December 2018 year, the non-residential building types with the highest values (compared with the December 2017 year) were: shops, restaurants, and bars - NZ$1.1 billion (up 40 percent); education buildings - NZ$1.0 billion (up 0.6 percent); and storage buildings - NZ$916 million (up 20 percent).