KEY POINTS:
The residential housing market continues to weaken with new figures showing the number of residential building consents issued falling 10 per cent from a year ago.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today said 1874 consents for new dwelling units were issued in February, down 218 or 10 per cent from February 2007.
Excluding apartments, the decrease was 162 new dwellings or 8.7 per cent.
Seasonally adjusted, the number of authorised new dwellings, including apartments, fell 6.5 per cent in February, following a 3.2 per cent rise in January, SNZ said.
Excluding apartments, the seasonally adjusted number fell 3 per cent, following a 5.8 per cent rise.
The value of residential building consents issued in February was $615 million, up $18 million or 2.9 per cent compared to February 2007.
The trend series for the value of residential buildings authorised had shown decreases for the past eight months, SNZ said.
For non-residential buildings, consents valued at $361m were issued in February, up $78m or 28 per cent from a year earlier.
The trend for the value of non-residential building consents had shown a recent decline, but that apparent change in direction could not yet be confirmed, SNZ said.
For all buildings, the value of consents issued in February was $976m, an increase of $96m or 11 per cent compared to a year earlier.
For the year to February, the total value of all consents was $12.1 billion, up $852m or 7.6 per cent from the February 2007 year.
In the Auckland region 536 new dwelling units were authorised in February, the highest number since August, although the value of those consents at $139m was only the highest for three months.
Canterbury is looking considerably weaker than a year ago, with 298 dwelling consents in February down from 474 a year earlier, and the value of $77m down from $105m.
Waikato was also well down on a year earlier at 224 units compared to 325, and $59m versus $69m.
In Wellington the number of new dwellings at 155 was the second lowest since February 2007's 115, but the value of those consents at $56m was the second highest in that time and double the figure from a year earlier.
- NZPA
