August recorded the most new housing consents in nearly a year, says Statistics New Zealand.
Building consents were authorised for 1165 new housing units, excluding apartments, in August 2009, the highest monthly number since September last year, although it remained at a low level, SNZ said today.
Consents were issued for 30 apartment units, the lowest number for any month since December 1995. Apartment numbers can vary considerably from month to month.
The seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised, excluding apartments, rose 2.8 per cent, following an 11.4 per cent rise in July 2009.
Including apartments, the seasonally adjusted number of new housing units authorised rose 1.7 per cent, following a 4.5 per cent rise in July 2009.
In August the value of residential building consents was $440 million, while the value for non-residential building consents was $384m.
The largest contributor to the value of non-residential building consents was social, cultural, and religious buildings, which included several indoor sports facilities.
For the August 2009 year, the value of consents issued for residential buildings fell 27 per cent, while the value for non-residential buildings rose 8 per cent, compared with the August 2008 year.
- NZPA
