Recovery in the house building industry took a step back in March following a strong performance in February.Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show an 8.3 percent fall from February in the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authoris
Recovery in the house building industry took a step back in March following a strong performance in February.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show an 8.3 percent fall from February in the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised in March, excluding apartments. In February the number had risen 9.8 percent.
When apartments are included, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised in March dropped just 0.4 percent, following a 5.8 percent rise in February.
The actual figures showed 1501 dwellings in total approved in March, of which 75 were apartments. That was an increase of 37.6 percent in total numbers from a year earlier, and an increase of 44.5 percent when apartments were excluded.
Residential building consents were worth $528m in March, 29 percent higher than a year earlier.
Non-residential consents were worth $345m, up 3.9 percent from March 2009, with the value of consents for education buildings up $39m and for storage buildings up $30m, while consents for offices and administration buildings were down $36m.
The value of all consents issued in March was $873m, up 18 percent from a year earlier, SNZ said.
For the year to March, the number of new dwellings, excluding apartments, was up 1.2 percent from a year earlier to 14,166 units. Including apartments, the total for the year was down 5.3 percent to 15,381, the lowest annual total for a March year since 1981.
Apartment approvals fell 46 percent to 1215 for the 12 months, compared to the year earlier, the lowest annual total for a March year since 1996.
The value of residential consents fell 3.9 percent to $5.42 billion for the March year, the lowest annual total for a March year since 2002.
Non-residential consents fell 5.1 percent for the year to $4.33b, while the value of consents for all buildings fell 4.4 percent to $9.75b.
