Residential building consents fell 4.9 per cent in August as the Canterbury rebuild shifts focus towards commercial work.
Seasonally adjusted consents declined to 2,397 last month from 2,520 in July, when they spiked 20 per cent, according to Statistics New Zealand. Of that, permits to build new houses fell 2.7 per cent to 1,661.
On an unadjusted basis, residential consents rose 11 per cent to 2,291 from the same month a year earlier, led by a 36 per cent gain in retirement village units. Housing consents rose 9 per cent to 1,617, while apartment permits dropped 39 percent to 65. Dwelling consents were up 8 per cent on an annual basis to 25,928.
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"The decline in the number of residential consents in August was not as pronounced as expected, meaning the trend upward is stronger than originally thought," Westpac Bank economist David Norman said in a note. "Given the shift to multi-unit buildings in Auckland, we can expect to see more of these monthly fluctuations, as large new developments are consented or not."