Building consents jump 11pc in October

Photo / Mark Mitchell

Building consents issued in October show more new houses being approved, compared with the same month last year, said Statistics New Zealand today, with most of the increase occurred in Auckland.

"New house approvals show a rising trend for seven consecutive months, following historically low levels," said industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.

Seasonally adjusted numbers fell markedly in September but were up again in October.

October saw a rise of 11 per cent in consents from the month before. This drops to 7.1 per cent if the traditionally volatile apartment approvals are excluded.

Housing approval numbers for October, compared with the same month last year were:

- 1,238 new houses, including apartments, up 10 per cent.
- 1,149 new houses, excluding apartments, up 4.5 per cent.
- 89 new apartments, none of which were for assisted-living.

Consent values for October 2011, compared with October 2010, were:

- $736 million total building work, up $49 million.
- $460 million residential work, up $45 million.
- 276 million non-residential work, up $4 million.

Statistics NZ said that there were $26 million of earthquake-related building consents issued in Canterbury during October, made up of $19 million for non-residential work and $7 million for residential work, including consents for 13 new dwellings.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE