Home consents hit 44-year high

A total of 33,576 new homes were consented in the year ended January 2019, the highest number of new homes consented in a year since early 1975, Stats NZ said today.

"The number of new homes consented this year is at its highest level since the mid-1970s," construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. "However, the population was only around 3 million in the 1970s, compared with nearly 5 million today."

See Are we there yet? Heading for a population of 5 million.

At the peak of the 1970s, approximately 13 new homes were consented per 1,000 New Zealanders compared with 7 per 1,000 in the year ended January 2019. In 2004 around 8 new homes were consented per 1,000 New Zealanders. The lowest point was 3 homes consented per 1,000 New Zealanders in 2011.

The growth in new homes consented in the year ended January 2019 was driven by townhouses, flats, and units. These were up 33 percent from the year ended January 2018, compared with an increase of only 0.6 percent for stand-alone houses in the same period.

In Auckland alone, 13,272 new homes were consented in the year ended January 2019, which was slightly more than were consented for the whole country in the year ended July 2011. The number of new homes consented in Auckland (up 20 percent from the January 2018 year) is at similar levels to the 1970s peak.

Monthly

Nationally, the number of new homes consented rose 17 percent (seasonally adjusted) in January 2019. This increase was mainly driven by large multi-unit projects such as apartments, especially in Auckland. January is generally a quiet month so the increase in consents this month contributed to a particularly high seasonally adjusted increase.