Our take on the latest Residential building consents (Mon 2 Nov 2020)
New dwelling consents rose 7.7%pa in September
New houses jumped 18%pa in September
Apartments and retirement units falling away
The key numbers...
- Total residential consents grew 3.6% from August (seasonally adjusted), to sit 7.7%pa higher than a year prior.
- Strength in townhouses and standalone houses was responsible for the growth in residential consents, with the numbers of new dwelling approvals sitting 26% and 18% higher than a year prior, respectively.
- Apartment and retirement building consents were particularly weak, falling by 34%pa and 33%pa in September.
- Eleven regions across the country all saw declines in the number of consents, with sizable falls occurring in Otago and Wellington. However, this weakness seen across the country was offset by Auckland, where residential building consents rose 52%pa in September.
Attached dwelling consents
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- The hot housing market is evident in residential consents, with strong demand and rapidly growing house prices encouraging more residential building activity.
- We expect the number of new consents to start to decline in the coming year as demand falters from an eventual weakening in house price growth, and the closed borders temper population growth.
- The new-found ability to work from home, and ever-present threat of another lockdown, has stifled demand for inner city apartments as prospective homeowners look for somewhere with more space and are open to living outside of main cities.
- It appears retirement buildings are currently on hold to wait out the storm of COVID-19. However, looking forward a couple of years, we expect retirement consents to be back in full swing as activity gears back up to cater for New Zealand’s ever-growing elderly population.
Latest updates
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Residential building consents
Residential consents fall 3.6% in June
Mon 3 Aug 2026
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40,581 Annual consents over the June 2026 year
19% June 2026 consents over the June 2026 year3.6% 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