Bay consents rise, but future 'unpredictable'

Some builders are are doing well, others not so much.

The building sector in Hawke's Bay flourished in the second month of the year with fresh statistics showing a rise in consents issued.

Some local builders however, remain conservative about the situation and future prospects.

Data released by Statistics New Zealand showed, in February 2015, there were 35 residential building consents issued in Hawke's Bay - an increase from the 29 issued during February the previous year.

By district, there were eight residential building consents issued in Napier and 21 issued in Hastings.

The value of residential buildings consented in February in Hawke's Bay totalled $15 million, up from $10 million in February the previous year.

Tims Construction owner Matt Tims said business in the Bay has been brisk.

"At the moment things are going well, for how long I don't know though." he said.

"It is much picked up after the recession and it is busier this February than in previous years. People seem to be spending money."

Mr Tims said the building industry in Hawke's Bay was "unpredictable" however.

"Some people are always busy and some people are not," he said.

Owner of Peter Wall Builder, Peter Wall, confirmed this and described business in Hawke's Bay as "dead".

"There has been a lot of decrease actually, it has been very, very quiet out there," he said.

Nationally, the number of new dwelling consents issued dropped by 0.6 per cent in February 2015, compared with the same month in 2014.

A total of 1758 new dwellings were consented in February 2015, including 160 apartments.

Statistics New Zealand business indicators manager Neil Kelly said building consent trends had begun to decline in 2015. "The trend for new dwellings has more than doubled since March 2011, but it is now showing signs of decreasing after generally increasing for almost four years."

The regions that consented the most new dwellings were; Auckland with 528 consents issued (including 98 apartments), Canterbury with 517 issued (including 62 apartments) and Waikato with 195 building consents issued in February 2015.

More than $1.2 billion of building work was consented in February - $769 million of residential work and $469 million of non-residential work.

For the whole year ending in February 2015, $14.8 billion of building work was consented - up 18 per cent on the year ended February 2014. This comprised $9.6 billion of residential work and $5.3 billion of non-residential work.