Our take on the latest Residential building consents (Thu 31 Oct 2019)
Annual dwelling consents
36,446
As of September 2019
Total new dwelling consents rose 31%pa
Attached dwelling consents up 81%pa
The key numbers...
- The number of dwelling consents in the month of September was 3,347, which was the most consents in one month since 2004 (seasonally adjusted).
- Attached dwellings made up 48% of these consents, which is the largest share of non-house consents since October 2002.
- Townhouse consent growth was 61%pa, with townhouse consents in Auckland more than doubling from last September and contributing three-quarters of the nationwide lift.
- Apartment consents were also strong, particularly in Wellington (186) and Otago (137), resulting in a near-tripling of nationwide consents from September 2018.
Attached dwelling consents
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- Wellington and Otago both punched above their weight for September consents, contributing to the gain in additional monthly consents by 19% and 20% respectively.
- The trend towards more high-density housing continues as the share of residential consents over the past year for attached dwellings reached 40% for the first time.
- More high-density dwelling consents in Wellington reflect high rental inflation and land shortages, particularly in Wellington City.
- Falling house prices in Auckland over the past 12 months haven’t been enough to slow consent numbers, as developers still see the market as being undersupplied.
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