Housing consents around two year lows
Building consent numbers for new dwellings reached the lowest seasonally adjusted number in around two years in February.
Building consent numbers for new dwellings reached the lowest seasonally adjusted number in around two years in February, according to Statistics New Zealand data.
Last month 973 consents were issued for new dwelling units, down 29 percent from February 2010. When apartments were excluded the fall was even bigger -- down 35 percent to 884 new units -- as the number of apartments consented was 76 higher than a year before at 89.
Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwellings authorised was down 7.8 percent from January when apartments were excluded, the lowest level since February 2009. Including apartments the fall was 9.7 percent to the lowest level since January 2009.
The value of residential building consents was 20 percent lower in February than a year earlier at $389 million, while the value of non-residential building consents fell 19 percent to $257m. For all buildings the value was down 19 percent to $645m.
In the year to February, the value of residential consents was up 2.1 percent to $5.41 billion, that of non-residential buildings fell 14 percent to $3.71 billion, while for all buildings the value was down 5.2 percent to $9.12 billion.
In Canterbury, hit by a devastating earthquake on February 22, dwelling consents were 101 units lower than a year earlier at 148, but SNZ said it was not possible to say how much of that fall was due to the earthquake.
Sixteen Canterbury consents worth $2.6m were identified as related to previous earthquakes, including three new dwellings.
NBR staff
Wed, 30 Mar 2011
Wed, 30 Mar 2011
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Housing consents around two year lows
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