Slight increase in house building in Bay

Nationally, dwelling consents were at their highest for March in nearly a decade. Photo / Paul Taylor

The number of dwellings consented in Rotorua is up compared with this time last year - although the total number remains small.

There were three more consents issued in March 2015 than in 2014, with nine residential buildings approved.

The trend was the same over the Bay of Plenty region, with 134 dwelling consents approved this March, 13 more than last March.

In total the dwelling consents are valued at $40 million in the region, according to the latest report from Statistics New Zealand.

Dial A Builder director Roy Peden said business was still "very slow".

He didn't think there was any particular reason for the slump.

"Just people not spending money I guess."

Nationally, dwelling consents were at their highest for March in nearly a decade, with more than 2000 projects given the go-ahead.

Statistics New Zealand business indicators manager Neil Kelly said it wasn't just houses raising numbers to their highest since 2006.

"Townhouses, units, and retirement villages have driven the increase in new dwelling consents over the past year."

The number of these dwellings consented has almost doubled, compared to March last year, with 561 applications approved.

The unadjusted value of residential consents rose 16 per cent, from this time last year, to $925 million.

The regions which consented the most new dwellings were Auckland with 756 consents issued (of which 449 were houses), Canterbury with 588 (460 houses) and Waikato with 219 dwelling consents issued in March 2015 (186 houses).