Data showed the CBD's five biggest new blocks are:
• The 294-unit Pacifica. Construction is forecast to start soon between Commerce St and Gore St.
• Sugartree Alto, a 288-unit block in the almost-completed Sugartree at the Union St/Nelson St junction.
• The 171-unit Vincent at 106 Vincent St, where construction is due to start early next year.
• The 161-unit Antipodean at 39 Beach Rd near the waterfront, where building work has started.
• The 113-unit Wynyard Central at 141 Pakenham St, now well under construction near the waterfront and due for completion soon.
Pete Evans, Colliers' residential project marketing national director, said next year would see the highest number of Auckland apartments completed in more than a decade.
Even with that level of development work, it was not enough to meet demand and was only a year's supply.
"In major cities with population growth we would expect supply to be anywhere between 12 to 24 months," Evans said.
"Most apartment projects take two to three years to build so the current undersupply will remain in the foreseeable future. Auckland's population growth, as well as banks restricting funding, is not assisting the needed supply of new apartments."
Deposits have been taken on most of the 3795 new units which sold for an average $1.12 million, up 12 per cent from a year ago, he said.
Last month, a study of more than 200 New Zealand industries conducted by market researchers at IBISWorld picked the top sectors set to flourish and those forecast to decline in the next year.
Apartment construction topped the list. The multi-unit apartment and townhouse construction industry was forecast to grow to $1.42 billion in the 2017/18 financial year, up from $1.3b.
However, not all apartment buyers settle. In July, nine Sugartree apartments valued at about $6 million were being quietly promoted for sale, after buyers who put down deposits had either died, had a change in personal circumstances or did not have enough money.
Zoltan Moricz, senior director and head of research at real estate agents and consultants CBRE New Zealand, in July said that a record 1216 new apartments worth more than $600m would be completed this year in Auckland's CBD - the highest this decade.
Moricz said 343 new CBD units were completed between January and July, not counting suburban projects. A further 873 CBD units were under construction and due to be finished this year, Moricz said. That gives a total 1216 new units, his data showed.
In 2012 and 2014, not a single apartment was completed in Auckland, he noted.
Many new apartment blocks are being built with no, or limited, car parking due to the Unitary Plan's drive for intensification and encouraging more use of public transport. For example, Ockham's Daisy apartment block near Dominion Rd only has parking for bikes and scooters.
