Building consents rise as housing intentions jump

Across all buildings, the value was up 20 percent to $1.41 billion in April and 14 percent in the year to $17.08 billion. Photo / NZPA

New Zealand residential building consents climbed 6.6 percent in April as new housing intentions climbed at their fastest monthly pace in eight years.

Seasonally adjusted consents rose to 2,390 in April from 2,242 a month earlier, Statistics New Zealand said. For houses alone, permits jumped 15 percent to 1,913, the biggest monthly gain since April 2008.

On an unadjusted basis, new housing consents were up 28 percent to 1,742 in April from the same month a year earlier, and up 12 percent on an annual basis to 20,098, the most for an April year since 2007.

Permits for all dwelling types rose an unadjusted 12 percent to 2,361 in April from a year earlier, for a 12 percent annual increase to 28,038, an 11-year high.

Statistics NZ said the slower pace of increase across all dwelling types was due to a slump in the number of apartments consented, especially in Auckland.

"Apartment numbers tend to be quite volatile," Statistics NZ business indicators manager Nick Kelly said in a statement. "For stand-alone houses, the trend is still increasing."

New Zealand is going through a housing boom as authorities look to make up for a shortage of supply which was driven by underinvestment when property financiers fell over through the latter half of last decade and has been compounded by record inflows of net migration.

Auckland has the biggest housing shortfall, and new building permits dropped to 699 in April from 912 a year earlier, though the value of those consents rose to $267 million from $240 million.

Today's figures show the value of non-residential building permits rose 9.4 percent to $459 million in April from the same month a year earlier, and was up 11 percent to $5.85 billion on an annual basis.

Across all buildings, the value was up 20 percent to $1.41 billion in April and 14 percent in the year to $17.08 billion.

See the latest Statistics NZ building consents release here: