Building consent figures rise

Statistics New Zealand said today that the total value of residential building consents rose 27% to $456 million for June 2012. The value trend has increased 30% since April 2011.

Industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said: "The South Island drove the increase in residential building consents in June. In June, the number of new housing approvals in Canterbury more than doubled from a record low one year ago, and increased by over 90% in the Otago region."

Canterbury had the largest regional increase in new housing numbers in June 2012, up to 296 from just 133 in June 2011, the lowest June month since the series began in 1991.

But the majority of consents continued to be outside Christchurch city, in Waimakariri, Selwyn, and Ashburton. The next-largest regional increase was in Wellington, where consents were up by 83, most of which was Wellington city apartments. Otago followed, with an increase of 60.

In June 2012, there were 1159 new houses built, excluding apartments, which was up 24% on the year before. Including apartments, there were 1277, up 28%.

Compared with May 2012, and after removing seasonal fluctuations, the number of new houses increased in June 2012, both including and excluding apartments. The trend for the number of new houses, excluding apartments, has been rising over the last year.

In Canterbury, earthquake-related building consents totalled $45 million in June 2012. Of this, $26 million was for non-residential work and $19 million was for residential work, including 27 new houses.