NZ building consents slip 0.8 percent in July

Friday 30th August 2013

New Zealand building consents fell 0.8 percent last month as a decline in the number of new permits to build apartments undermined growth in intentions to build new houses.

New dwelling consents fell to a seasonally adjusted 1,712 in July from 1,726 a month earlier adding to a 4.3 percent decline in June, according to Statistics New Zealand. Stripping out apartments, new permits issued climbed 3.1 percent to 1,561, turning positive for the first month since April.

On an unadjusted basis, new residential permits climbed 28 percent to 1,893 from July 2012, and were up 35 percent excluding apartments to 1,675. Annual residential building permits climbed 22 percent to 19,146, and were up 23 percent to 17,354 without apartments.

Property markets in New Zealand's two biggest cities, Auckland and Christchurch, have been underpinning national increases as a lack of supply and heightened demand fuels higher prices. The heat prompted the Reserve Bank to impose limits on the level of low-equity bank lending as a means to alleviate some of that pressure.

Today's figures show Auckland reported the biggest increase in new dwelling permits, rising 148 to 556 from a year earlier, Canterbury rose 136 to 507, and Wellington increased 54 to 169.

The value of non-residential building consents rose 23 percent to $425 million in July from a year earlier, and across all buildings, rose 30 percent to $1.12 billion.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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