Building trend continues to climb

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Tuesday 26th March 2002

A 20% increase in the number of residential building consents issued in February has underlined the current health of the country's residential construction market.

Statistics New Zealand says 1,745 consents for new dwelling units were issued last month compared with 1,397 in February last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis the increase was 12.7%. Total value of the consents was $293.3 million compared with $206.2 million last February.

The trend in the number of new dwelling units has been increasing since January last year and for the year ended February the average number of new dwelling units was 1,757 per month compared with 1,639 per month the previous year, a rise of 7.2%.

"This change has mainly been driven by an increase in the average number of dwelling units in the Auckland region, up 73 dwelling units per month on average or 11.6% compared with the year ended February 2001," Statistics New Zealand says.

Otago also increased significantly, up 26 dwelling units per month or 44.8%, which is likely to be a reflection of increased demand the Central Otago resort areas around Queenstown and Wanaka.

The total value of non-residential building consents issued in February 2002 was $173.7 million, similar to last year's February total of $172 million.

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