NZ residential building consents rise to 7-year high in November

Friday 9th January 2015

New Zealand residential building consents rose to a seven year high in November, led by Auckland and Canterbury.

The number of new permits issued rose 6.7 percent to 2,420 in November from the year earlier month, the highest number since August 2007, according to Statistics New Zealand. Auckland consents increased 24 percent to 967, while Canterbury permits jumped 32 percent to 726, the agency said.

The rebuilding of earthquake damaged Christchurch and a shortage of housing in the nation's largest city of Auckland is underpinning the rise in building permits, with the two regions accounting for 70 percent of the national total. The nation's rampant housing market means Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler won't cut interest rates even as inflation is set to fall below the central bank's target band, the Bank of New Zealand said in a note yesterday.

"House price inflation is still too high and turnover data suggest it is about to take another leg up," BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis said. "The last thing the economy needs now is more stimulus for the housing market."

Today's figures showed 474 of the new dwelling consents were for apartments, including 95 retirement village units.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, new dwelling consents increased 10 percent from the previous month, following a 9.8 percent increase in October and a 12 percent decrease in September, when the general election was held. Excluding apartments, which can be volatile, seasonally adjusted consents rose 2.1 percent, following a 13 percent increase in October and an 11 percent drop in September.

The unadjusted value of building work for November was $1.3 billion, including $867 million of residential work and $426 million of non-residential work.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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