Our take on the latest Residential building consents (Fri 29 Mar 2019)
Annual dwelling consents remain high at 34,262
Attached dwelling consents rose 72%pa in February 2019
Auckland apartments up 37%pa over year to February 2019
The key numbers...
- The immediate outlook for residential construction remains strong, with annual consents continuing to grow at pace as the undersupply of housing continues to be addressed.
- However, confidence within the residential construction sector is low, with yesterday’s ANZ Business Outlook showing sentiment in the sector turning negative for the first time in 10 years, highlighting concerns over the capacity constraints facing residential construction.
- Although consents in Auckland continues to grow, growth in other regions is slowing, indicating that any undersupply issues outside Auckland have already been at least partly resolved.
- We remain wary of capacity constraints evident in the sector, which could limit the actual amount of building activity that could reasonably occur over the next year.
Consent growth by dwelling type
Year-end % changes
...and our reaction
- February extended on January’s surge in dwelling consents, with total consents up 28%pa from February 2018. This growth was driven by a 72% increase in attached dwellings, while house consents grew by 9.0%.
- Attached dwellings growth was driven by apartments and retirement unit consents. Both these consent classes are lumpy, but year-end growth of 29% for apartments and 11% for retirement units is indicative of their continued strength.
- Auckland is the key driver of this continued strength in dwelling consents, with annual growth of 74%pa the fastest since the end of 2013. Consents in the rest of New Zealand only rose 6.8%pa, with more than half of the other regions recording annual falls.
Latest updates
Premium
Residential building consents
Residential consents fall 3.6% in June
Mon 3 Aug 2026
Monthly
40,581 Annual consents over the June 2026 year
19% June 2026 consents over the June 2026 year
3.6% June 2026 consents from May on a seas. adj. basisPremium
Residential building consents
Residential consents fall 4.0% in May
Thu 2 Jul 2026
Monthly
39,737 Annual consents over May 2026 year4.0% May 2026 consents from April on a seas. adj. basis22%pa Townhouse consents over May 2026 yearResidential building consents
Residential consents jump up 11% in April
Wed 3 Jun 2026
Monthly
39,087 Annual consents over April 2026 year11% April 2026 consents from March on a seas. adj. basis19%pa Multi-unit consents over April 2026 yearResidential building consents
Residential consent momentum trends sideways
Fri 1 May 2026
Monthly
37,813 Annual consents over March 2026 year
3,300pm Consents trend sideways on a seas. adj. basis14%pa Townhouse consents over March 2026 year