'Second wind' sees house building consents up 4pc

Consents for 2145 houses and apartments were issued in February, worth $455 million, Statistics NZ figures issued yesterday show. There was a near 5 per cent rise in house building consents. Apartment consents were up 1.3 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted, the home consents were close to 2500, the highest number since October last year.

House consents peaked in late 2003, but fell away for the 12 months to October last year.

The trend for new consents appeared to have picked up in the five months since then, Statistics NZ said, but consent levels in February were 14 per cent below the same month a year ago.

"The sector appears to have maintained the second wind it gained late last year," ANZ Bank economists said.

The housing market was given a push by the fixed-interest rate price war on mortgages late last year. Fixed-term rates fell below 7 per cent, but have since moved back up to about 8 per cent.

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