New Zealand building consents stalled in September with its first monthly decline in five eroding gains over the past two months.
The number of new dwellings excluding apartments authorised dropped a seasonally adjusted 14 per cent to 1,039 in September, and was down 17 per cent including the volatile apartments issuance, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement. The decline undoes the strong growth of the past two months as consents were approved for reconstruction in Christchurch.
"The extent of decline in building consents in September was disappointing," ASB economist Jane Turner said in a note. "The decline was broad based, with falls recorded in our seasonally-adjusted estimate of Canterbury dwelling consents, and throughout the rest of the country."
The prospects for residential and commercial construction have dimmed in recent months as continued seismic activity in Canterbury pushes out the prospect of an early rebuild in Christchurch, with exposed firms including Fletcher Building and tap maker Methven winding down their forecast earnings for the coming financial year.
ASB's Turner said the "most crucial aspect of the construction outlook is the timing and extent of earthquake reconstruction activity and the RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) is not expecting this to pick up in any meaningful extent until mid-2012."
