Consents surge before Christmas
A rush to get approval before Christmas has seen building consents for new homes in Auckland hit the highest level in 15 years.
In November there were 1450 new homes consented across Auckland, the second strongest month on record.
The surge meant that across New Zealand, home consents hit a 13-year high of 3262.
Statistics New Zealand said it was not unusual for November to show a strong lift in consents.
‘‘November is typically the month with the highest number of new homes consented, as people try to get plans approved before Christmas,’’ Statistics NZ’s Melissa McKenzie said.
For the 12 months to the end of November, consents were up about 2 per cent on the previous year, with those for standalone houses falling slightly. McKenzie said this represented a longer-term trend.
‘‘Building consents for apartments and townhouses have seen double-digit growth year after year, while consents for standalone houses have levelled off.’’
Westpac said the rise in building consents was stronger than expected, and while it was believed to be partly due to an increase in retirement developments, there had been a strong increase in apartments.
‘‘[I]f Auckland can sustain the pace we’ve seen in recent months, it would finally start eating into its significant shortfall of housing,’’ Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said.
ANZ warned, however, that it seemed unlikely that the building industry could increase the supply of houses from current levels.
‘‘While there is plenty of demand and an upcoming more ‘active’ push from policymakers, supply is being challenged by capacity, capital and cost constraints,’’ ANZ senior economist Phil Borkin said.