New home consents down in April

Friday 3rd June 2011

The 893 new homes, excluding apartments, approved in April was down 32% from a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.

The figures were consistent with the longer term picture provided by the trend, which has fallen nearly one-third since March 2010. But data for recent months showed the rate of decline was easing, SNZ said.

Including apartments, 927 new homes were authorised, down 34% compared to April 2010.

The seasonally adjusted number fell 1.6%, following a 2% rise in March. When apartments are excluded, the seasonally adjusted number of new homes authorised rose 3.8% in April after a 3.3% rise in March.

In Canterbury, 28 earthquake-related consents were identified in April, with a total value of $2.5 million. Those consents included seven new homes, four of which were relocateable units intended to house displaced Christchurch residents, SNZ said.

The value of consents issued for residential buildings was $354 million in April, down 26% compared to a year earlier. The value of non-residential buildings fell 23% to $252 million, while for all buildings the value was down 25% to $606 million.

For the year to April the total value of residential buildings was down 6.6% from a year earlier to $5.17 billion, for non-residential buildings it was down 12% to $3.63 billion, and for all buildings it dropped 8.9% to $8.81 billion.

NZPA

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