Building consent figures lift slightly

Total consent fell 4.6% in May from the month before but that was largely due to a drop in the number of apartment unit consents. Excluding apartments, consents rose 4.6%.

There were 432 units consented for in April, and 195 in May.

The rebound in ex-apartment consents was led by Auckland, where they rose to their highest level since late 2006 in seasonally-adjusted terms.

But consents in Christchurch were flat. The 605 in May, including apartments, was only slightly up on the 554 in April – a month that included Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays.

Including apartments, Auckland’s consents fell from 697 in April to 611 in May.

Waikato was the third-busiest region for consents, with 192 in the month.

A total of $1.2 billion of work was consented in May nationwide. Of that, $842 million was residential.

Statistics NZ’s business indicators manager Neil Kelly said: “The trend for new dwellings has been increasing for three years but is still 28% below the series peak in 2004.”

Westpac economist Michael Gordon said he had expected some of the April weakness was due to timing of the Easter/Anzac Day holidays, and a rebound was expected in May. "That proved to be the case, althoguh the rebound wasn't quite as robust as we expected."