Home building consents fall 23.9% year-on-year

There’s been a significant decline in residential building consents, indicating a shrinking pipeline of new homes over the next year or two.

Even though the growth in building costs has slowed to its lowest level in seven years (see next story), fewer owners and developers are planning to build. Across New Zealand, there were 38,209 consents in the year to November 2023, according to the latest data from Stats NZ, which was 23.9% lower than the 12 months to November 2022.

Breaking down the numbers, house consents fell 26.9% to 15,958 while multi-unit home consents (which includes townhouses, apartments, retirement village units and flats) fell 21.6% to 22,251.

 

Around the regions

Two of New Zealand's regions experienced a year-on-year increase in consents, with Gisborne up 10.1% and Marlborough 8.9%.

However, consents fell in the rest of the country:

  • Nelson = -5.4%.
  • Hawke's Bay = -10.4%.
  • Taranaki = -11.0%.
  • Manawatū-Whanganui = -11.2%.
  • Bay of Plenty = -18.4%.
  • Canterbury = -19.3%.
  • Otago = -19.7%.
  • Southland = -24.0%.
  • Waikato = -25.7%.
  • Auckland = -27.0%.
  • Wellington = -27.9%.
  • West Coast = -30.5%.
  • Northland = -32.1%.
  • Tasman = -42.8%.

 

If the future supply of new homes decreases, that is likely to lead to an increase in demand, which would put upward pressure on prices.

As you know, the most important part of any home building project is securing the finance, otherwise the project can’t succeed. If any of your clients need a construction loan, I'm here to help.

 

 

 


Published: 26/1/2024
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