KEY POINTS:
The building industry sunk deeper into gloom last month with building consent numbers falling to record lows.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today that 812 consents for dwelling units, including apartments, were issued in January. That was the lowest monthly total since that series started in 1965.
Excluding apartments, 745 new dwelling consents were approved the lowest monthly total since that series started 19 years ago.
Seasonally adjusted, the number of new dwellings authorised, excluding apartments, fell 8.2 per cent in January.
That series had been falling in recent months and was now at its lowest level since the series started 17 years ago, SNZ said.
Including apartments, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised fell 13 per cent in January.
The trend indicated that the number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, had been falling since June 2007 and was now less than half the level it was then.
January was the first month since June 1998 when the value of consents for non-residential buildings was higher than that for residential buildings, SNZ said.
Residential consents in January were valued at $329m, down 39 per cent from a year earlier. Non-residential consents were up 15 per cent to $362m.
For the year to January, the value of residential consents fell 23 per cent to $6.02 billion, while the value of non-residential building was up 7 per cent to $4.57 billion.
- NZPA
