Annual dwelling consents at 30-year low

Wednesday 4th May 2011

The number of consents issued for new dwelling units hit a 30-year low in the year to March, with large declines in Canterbury and Waikato.

For just the month of March, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised was up 2.2%, following a fall of 9.8% in February, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said.

Consents were issued for 1087 dwelling units in March, 28% lower than a year earlier. In quake-hit Canterbury, numbers were down by 161 units to 166.

Excluding apartments, the number of units authorised in March was 27% lower than a year before at 1047.

The value of residential building consents was $420 million in March, 20% lower than a year earlier.

In Canterbury, 20 earthquake-related consents had been identified, with a combined value of $11 million, SNZ said.

For the year to March, the number of new dwelling units authorised fell 5% from the previous year to 14,611. When apartments were excluded, the decline was 4.1% to 13,583. The number of apartments consented were down 15% to 1028, the lowest annual total for a March year since 1996.

The $5.3 billion value of residential buildings consented in the year was 2.1% down on the year before.

In Canterbury - the region with the second highest number of consents after Auckland - new dwelling consents were down 7.4% for the year to 2526, while in third-placed Waikato the fall was 7.9% to 1762.

The value of non-residential consents edged down 0.2% to $344 million in March from a year earlier, while for the year to March the decline was 14%, to $3.71 billion.

The value of consents for offices and administration buildings was down $512 million for the year, with a decline of $189 million in social, cultural and religious buildings, and a fall of $134 million in factories and industrial buildings.

For all buildings, the value of consents issued in March was 12% lower than a year earlier at $764 million.

Over the year the decline was 7.6% to $9.01 billion, with residential buildings down 2.1% to $5.3 billion and non-residential down 14% to $3.71 billion.

Goldman Sachs economist Philip Borkin said the overall level of dwelling consent issuance remained depressed but, outside Canterbury, a trough in consent issuance had or was close to being reached.

Excluding Canterbury, consent issuance was up a seasonally adjusted 6% in March from February, while in Canterbury Goldman Sach's estimate was that issuance fell 13% in March after a 20% drop in February.

Given difficulties getting insurance and with aftershocks still occurring, consent issuance would likely remain subdued in Canterbury for a number of months yet.

NZPA

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