Building consents hit record for May

The value of building consents issued last month was the highest ever for the month of May, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.

The value of consents issued for all buildings in May 2006 was $1.059 billion, $186 million more than May 2005, with both residential and non-residential buildings recording their highest values for a May month.

SNZ did caution that the number of building consents issued for May 2005 was lower than usual as a result of changes to the Building Act.

For residential buildings, the value of consents issued last month was $670m, $134m (25 per cent) more than in May 2005.

Despite the high May 2006 value, the trend for the value of residential buildings had flattened during recent months, SNZ said.

The value of consents issued for non-residential buildings was $388m, $52m (15 per cent) more than in May 2005.

The main contributors to the May 2006 value were shops, restaurants and taverns at $62m, followed by offices and administration buildings at $47m.

The trend for the value of non-residential building consents remained at a high level.

Consents for 2111 new dwelling units, excluding apartment units, were issued in May 2006, compared with 1866 in May 2005 but, again, the trend for the number of new consents in the category was decreasing.

Last month 217 apartment unit consents were issued, compared with 170 units in April, and 220 in March.

Apartments accounted for 9 per cent of all new dwelling consents issued in May, compared with a monthly average of 13 per cent for the 12 months up to May.

For the year ended May, consents were issued for 25,698 new dwelling units, down 3064 units (11 per cent) from the previous May year, SNZ said.

The total value of consents issued for all buildings for the year was $10.9 billion, down $7m from the May 2005 year. Consents for residential buildings fell $75m, while consents for non-residential buildings were up $68m.

Eleven of 16 regions authorised more new dwelling units last month than in May 2005. Auckland, with an increase of 137 units, recorded the largest increase, followed by Canterbury (up 103) and Waikato (up 72). Southland (down 42) had the largest decrease.

- NZPA