Housing consents fall to new low

Building consent statistics show the seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartment units, fell 8.2 percent in January 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today. This series has been falling in recent months and is now at its lowest level since it began 17 years ago.

The trend indicates that the number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, has been falling since June 2007 and is now less than half the level it was then.

In January 2009, there were 812 new housing units authorised (including 67 apartment units), the lowest monthly total since this series began in April 1965.

For the first time since June 1998, the value of consents issued for non-residential buildings ($362 million) exceeds the value of consents issued for residential buildings ($329 million).