Building Consents Issued: July 2008

Seasonally adjusted series

Movements in the monthly series for seasonally adjusted dwelling numbers for March to June 2008 should be treated with caution. During this period, these series exhibited greater variability than usual. This was due to the high number of dwellings, particularly apartments, authorised in April 2008, and because of the impact of Easter being in March this year instead of April.

Residential buildings

In July 2008, consents were issued for:

• 1,410 new dwellings, including apartments, the second-lowest monthly total since February 2001, with the lowest since then being recorded in June 2008
• 1,297 new dwellings, excluding apartments
• 113 new apartment units.

The trend for the number of authorised new dwellings, including apartments, has been declining since June 2007, and has fallen 35 percent since that month.

In July 2008 compared with June 2008, the seasonally adjusted number of authorised new dwellings, including apartments, rose 4.7 percent, while excluding apartments, the number fell 0.1 percent.

The value of authorised residential building consents was $491 million in July 2008, a decrease of 28 percent compared with July 2007. In the past four years, there have been five months with a monthly value below $500 million. The trend continues to decline from the peak in June 2007.

For the year ended July 2008, residential building consents valued at $7,092 million were issued, a decrease of 9.1 percent from the July 2007 year.

 

Regional residential results

In 14 of New Zealand's 16 regions, fewer new dwellings were authorised in July 2008 than in July 2007. Numbers fell by 427 units in the North Island and by 323 units in the South Island.

The largest regional decreases were:

• Auckland, down 220 units, to 237
• Canterbury, down 173 units, to 217
• Waikato, down 126 units, to 199.

The largest increase was for Wellington, up 30 units, to 220.

 

Non-residential buildings

The value of authorised non-residential building consents was $349 million in July 2008, a decrease of 1.2 percent compared with July 2007. Six of the 11 building types recorded decreases in value.

For July 2008 compared with July 2007, the largest changes were:

• Shops, restaurants and taverns, down $21 million
• Offices and administration buildings, up $15 million
• Storage buildings, down $14 million
• Farm buildings, up $13 million.

The largest contributors to the July 2008 value were:

• Offices and administration buildings, with 27 percent
• Shops, restaurants and taverns, with 15 percent
• Factories and industrial buildings, with 13 percent.

 

For the year ended July 2008, non-residential building consents valued at $4,320 million were issued, an increase of 5.3 percent from the July 2007 year.

All buildings

In July 2008, the value of consents issued for all buildings was $839 million, a decrease of 19 percent compared with July 2007.

Residential buildings contributed 58 percent to the total value of all buildings in July 2008, while non-residential buildings contributed 42 percent. For the previous 12 months, the average monthly contribution of residential buildings was 63 percent.

For the year ended July 2008, the total value of consents issued for all buildings was $11,412 million, down $495 million (4.2 percent) from the July 2007 year. For the latest year, the value of consents issued for residential buildings fell $712 million while non-residential buildings rose $218 million.

For technical information contact:
Tina Waterhouse or Tehseen Islam
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz

Next release ...

Building Consents Issued: August 2008 will be released on 30 September 2008.