Building consents tumble
Building consents dropped off in September, following two months of large increases.
Building consents dropped off in September, following two months of large increases.
Total residential consent values fell 12%, or $53 million, on the previous September, Statistics NZ said today.
Total non-residential consent values - basically business and government-related work -fell 13% or $46 million.
Building consents data is one of the principal forward indicators for the domestic economy, both on the household front but also for future business investment.
Consents issued for all new dwellings were down 1.3% from last month's 1509. "The large decrease in seasonally adjusted figures for new home approvals in September partly reflects the strength of the increases in the previous two months," said SNZ industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver.
The upwards trend though is barely discernible yet: in terms of value, the past six months has averaged new consent values of $400 million a month for total residential buildings, and for these latest monthly figures the amount is $398 million.
The first month of that period, though, saw an increase of $354 million.
Earthquake related building consents in Canterbury were worth $29 million, including four new dwellings.
The always-volatile non-residential building consents - basically businesses and government-related - fell dramatically on the previous September, by $61 million, but this was largely because a $67 million consent for a new hospital was issued last month.
Rob Hosking
Mon, 31 Oct 2011
Mon, 31 Oct 2011
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Building consents tumble
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