The number of housing consents issued in August fell to a 12-month low, Statistics New Zealand says.The seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, fell 9 percent -- the lowest number in more than a year, SNZ saidThat
The number of housing consents issued in August fell to a 12-month low, Statistics New Zealand says.
The seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, fell 9 percent -- the lowest number in more than a year, SNZ said
That followed a fall of 6 percent in July.
"Looking at the longer-term trend, the number of new homes consented, excluding apartments, has been falling since March this year," business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.
The seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, including apartments, fell 18 percent, following a 2.4 percent rise in July.
In August, without adjusting for seasonal effects, consents were issued for 1229 new homes including apartments.
The value of consents issued for residential buildings was $473 million in August, up 7.6 percent compared to August last year.
However, the value of non-residential buildings fell 3 percent to $296m.
Helen Kevans from JP Morgan Research had expected that permits would increase steadily in 2010 after an extended period of weak activity.
"Permits could, however, increase into year-end, owing to the impact of the devastating earthquake in Canterbury in early-September. This suggests that residential investment should continue to recover in 2011 from a long running decline," she said.
"Residential investment spiked 11%q/q in 2Q, having risen only modestly
in the previous two quarters. Slower net migration and higher interest rates will, however, cap the upside."
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