Housing consents continue to fall

The seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, has fallen for the fourth consecutive month to the lowest point since July 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Looking at the longer-term trend, the number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, has fallen steadily in recent months and has declined 20 percent since March 2010. When the volatile apartment category is included, the trend is similar, declining 18 percent since April 2010.

In October 2010, without adjusting for seasonal effects, consents were issued for:

• 1,123 new housing units, including apartments
• 1,099 new housing units, excluding apartments
• 24 new apartments. 

The value of consents issued for residential buildings was $415 million in October 2010, down 14 percent compared with October 2009. The value of non-residential buildings also decreased, down by 17 percent to $272 million.

In Canterbury, a small number of low-value consents authorised in October 2010 were related to the earthquake. None of these were for new dwellings. 

Building consent values include goods and services tax (GST), which increased from 12.5 percent to 15 percent from 1 October 2010. It is not possible to separate the impact of this change on building consent statistics from other factors.

Data for building consents is obtained each month from all territorial authorities. 

Geoff Bascand 30 November 2010

Government Statistician