Our take on the latest Residential building consents (Wed 1 Dec 2021)
Residential consents
47,715
In the year to October 2021
Townhouses up 49%pa in the three months to October 2021
Eighth record-setting month in a row
The key numbers...
- Residential consents continue to climb, with 4,043 dwellings approved in October, bringing the annual number of consents to 47,715 (up 26%pa) – a new annual record for the eighth month in a row.
- Townhouses remain a key driver of growth, with townhouse consents up 49%pa in the three months to October 2021. Although accounting for a smaller share, retirement consents have also been strong, up 132%pa in the three months to October 2021.
- The regions contributing the most growth in October were Canterbury (up by 121 consents, or 21%) and Bay of Plenty (up by 71 consents, or 36%).
Attached dwelling consents
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- When looking at percentage changes, growth for new dwellings looks to have slowed from recent months in October. However, this slowing in growth is largely due to a period of strong consents over the past year, meaning that the baseline of activity is sitting at a higher level, with consents holding above 4,000 per month since May 2021.
- Demand for new buildings remains high, with current house price growth of 30%pa highlighting the need for further supply. We expect annual residential consents will continue to grow into early next year, peaking at around 50,000.
- Capacity constraints remain incredibly pressing in the construction sector. Residential construction costs rose 12%pa in September, with both input material costs and labour costs growing at rapid pace.
- Building costs are expected to increase further throughout 2022, with supply chain disruptions and a tight labour market continuing to push up prices, although the quarterly increases should not be as big as we have seen over the last six months.
- Capacity constraints will make translating building intentions into actual activity more difficult, and they are likely to extend the time to complete construction as well as push up the price of new builds.
Latest updates
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Residential building consents
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40,581 Annual consents over the June 2026 year
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Residential building consents
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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
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Wed 3 Jun 2026
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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
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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