Housing consents rise but not keeping up
Consents were issued for more than 13,000 new homes in Auckland in the year to October – the first time that number had been reached since the 1970s, Statistics NZ said.
Home permits in Auckland briefly reached a similar high level in the early 1970s, when its population was less than half what it is now, acting construction statistics manager Dave Adair said.
‘‘The number of new homes consented also came close to 13,000 in the June 2004 year.’’
Over the past year, only 48 per cent of consented new homes in Auckland were standalone houses (74 per cent across the rest of New Zealand). The rest were apartments, townhouses, retirement village units, and flats.
Infometrics economist Gareth Kiernan said it was good news that consent numbers were growing after a soft patch in 2017.
But the rate in Auckland was unsustainable and this was problematic, given the region’s massive undersupply of housing.
In the year ended October 2018, consents were issued for a total of 32,925 new homes in New Zealand – up 6.7 per cent from the October 2017 year. Auckland was the main driver of this increase, followed by Wellington. The picture was mixed for other parts of the country, with the largest annual declines being in Canterbury and Bay of Plenty.
Nationally, the number of new homes consented rose 1.5 per cent (seasonally adjusted) in October 2018, reversing a 1.3 per cent fall in September.
ASB economist Jane Turner said the housing shortage seen in Auckland had also spread to Wellington.
‘‘Growth in housing construction has also struggled to keep up with population growth in other regions, including Gisborne and the Hawkes Bay. Nonetheless, population growth on a nationwide basis is now slowing and, as a result, we believe the level of nationwide housing construction is close to a peak.’’