Residential building consents fall

New Zealand residential building consents fell 4.9% last month as the Canterbury rebuild shifts its focus toward commercial work.

Seasonally adjusted consents declined to 2397 last month from 2520 in July, when they spiked at 20%, Statistics New Zealand figures show. Of the consent numbers, permits to build new houses fell 2.7% to 1661.

On an unadjusted basis, residential consents rose 11% to 2291 from the same month a year earlier, led by a 36% gain in retirement village units.

Housing consents rose 9% to 1617, while apartment permits dropped 39% to 65. Dwelling consents were up 8% on an annual basis to 25,928.

"The decline in the number of residential consents in August was not as pronounced as expected, meaning the trend upward is stronger than originally thought," Westpac Banking Corp economist David Norman says.

"Given the shift to multi-unit buildings in Auckland, we can expect to see more of these monthly fluctuations, as large new developments are consented or not."

Construction intentions were strong in non-residential work, with a 52% increase in the value of permits to $671 million, of which almost two-thirds was in Canterbury. The Canterbury figures were boosted by a number of high-value consents including the $137 million Regional Science and Innovation Centre at the University of Canterbury.

"Christchurch really stands out this month, because we've got these non-residential consents accounting for a big chunk of the national total," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly says.

"What we're seeing in Christchurch is a few big consents for offices, hospitals, and the university."

New Zealand has a strong construction pipeline over the next six years, because of an under-supply of housing in Auckland, the country's biggest city.

Auckland residential consents rose 6.9% to 741 in August from the same month a year earlier, amounting to almost a third of permits across the country.

The value of all construction consents rose 31% to $1.61 billion in August from a year earlier, and were up 12% on an annual basis to $15.95 billion.

(BusinessDesk)