Building consents issued in February at a four-month high

The number of building consents issued in February was at its highest level in four months, figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show.

The seasonally adjusted number of new dwelling authorised in February was 2492, the highest level since October last year, but down 14.1 per cent on a year earlier.

There were 2394 new dwelling consents issued in January and 2483 in December, both numbers having been revised.

In the February year, 30,265 new dwelling consents were issued, down 3 per cent on the 2004 February year.

The total value of consents issued in February was $861 million, including $316 million for non-residential buildings.

Residential consents contributed 63 per cent, or $542 million, of the total value of consents, against 72 per cent in February last year.

"The trend for the value of non-residential buildings has increased 25 per cent since February 2004," Statistics NZ said in a statement.

Excluding new apartment units, the number of seasonally adjusted new dwelling consents was up 4.7 per cent on the previous month but 6.7 per cent lower than in February a year ago.

- NZPA