KEY POINTS:
Residential construction sunk further into the mire last month, with the number of new dwelling units authorised the lowest in 16 years.
The 1173 building consents issued in October for new homes, including apartments, was the lowest monthly total since January 1992, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.
Last month's total was down 22 per cent on a year earlier when apartments were included, and down 24 per cent with apartments excluded.
Also last month, the seasonally adjusted number of authorised new housing units, excluding apartments, fell 7.1 per cent compared to September.
When apartments are included, the total was down 22 per cent due to the low number of apartments last month.
The 50 apartment units authorised in October was the lowest monthly total since April 2000, apart from March 2008 when there were also 50 apartment units authorised, SNZ said.
Building consents issued last month were valued at $439 million, down 32 per cent on October 2007.
For the year ended October, the value of consents issued for residential buildings fell $1.19 billion, or 15 per cent, to $6.58 billion, compared to the October 2007 year.
The value for non-residential buildings dropped 14 per cent last month, compared with a year earlier, to $348m.
For the year ended October, the value of non-residential building consents was up 7.2 per cent from the previous year to $4.48 billion.
The value of consents issued for all buildings last month was $788m, down 25 per cent on October 2007.
For the October year, the value of consents issued for all buildings was $11.06b, down 7.5 per cent from the previous year.
- NZPA
