Housing consents ‘close to recent historically low levels'

November saw consents issued for 1,384 new homes, including apartments, down 5.9% on November 2010.

"Although housing trend numbers continue to rise, seasonally adjusted figures are still volatile," said industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver.

"Figures dipped in November, the third change in direction in as many months."

Statistics NZ cited the spike in apartment numbers in 2010 - and subsequent fall back - for the reduced number of consents.

Excluding apartments, 1,275 consents were issued, up 2.5% on the year earlier.

Housing numbers rose in Auckland, but fell - again mostly due to apartment numbers - in Canterbury, Wellington and Otago.

Consent values for November 2011 were all lower than the year earlier, with $919 million in total building work, down $74 million, and $504 million in residential work, down $9 million.

"Overall consent issuances remains very low and points to ongoing weakness in construction activity over the start of 2012," said ASB economist Jane Turner.  

"We expect underlying demand for housing construction to pick up, reflecting the current tightness in the housing market, particularly in Auckland."