January building consents lowest value in nine years

Monday 7th March 2011

The value of consents for all buildings fell to $537 million in January - the lowest level in nine years and 11% lower than a year earlier.

Residential building consents in January were down 19% from a year earlier at $309 million, the lowest level since January 2002, while the value of non-residential consents rose 2.3% from a year earlier to $228 million.

Figures published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show 867 dwelling units, including apartments, authorised in January, the second-lowest level on record and 17% lower than a year earlier.

Excluding apartments, 777 new dwelling units were approved, down 22% from January 2010. There were 90 apartments.

Seasonally adjusted, new dwellings including apartments rose 9.6% from December, while new dwellings excluding apartments rose 7.7%.

Those increases were a reflection of the size of the decline in December compared to normal seasonal variation, SNZ said.

The trend for new dwellings including apartments was down 23% since last April, while the trend for dwellings excluding apartments was down 27% since last March.

For the year ended January, the total value of consents for all buildings was down 3% from a year earlier to $9.27 billion, while for residential buildings it was up 6.5% to $5.5 billion, and for non-residential down 14% to $3.77 billion.

NZPA

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