Our take on the latest Residential building consents (Tue 3 Feb 2026)
Dwelling consents
Retirement units
Annual townhouse consents
36,619
97%14%Over the year to December 2025
In the December 2025 quarter compared to 2024
Over 2025
The key numbers...
- There were 3,128 new dwelling consents issued in December, up 23% from December 2024. This further improvement saw annual consents rise to 36,619 over the 2025 calendar year, up 9.0%, to levels last seen in February 2024.
- Auckland helped drive dwelling consents higher, contributing 56% of the increase in dwelling consents over the December 2025 year, to total 15,617 consents. Canterbury was the next largest contributor to growth, providing 26% of the increase, to total 7,316.
- Standalone house consents continue to rise, up by 17%pa in the December quarter and 5.4% for the 2025 calendar year.
- Townhouse consents are showing even faster growth, up 30%pa in the December quarter and 14%pa over the 2025 year. Townhouses consents have increased to 44% of total consents over the last year, the highest share since mid-2024.
- Retirement unit consents have showed a bit more activity recently, up 97%pa over the December quarter compared to a year ago, driven by more units in Auckland and Manawatū-Whanganui. Retirement units made up 4.1% of total consents in the 2025 calendar year.
- The value of alterations and additions consents fell 0.7%pa over the 2025 calendar year, although renovation consent values have started to pick up over the second half of the year.
...and our reaction
- December dwelling consents were extremely close to our forecast expectations, released last week. There’s nothing in the data to divert us away from our view that building consents, having rallied recently, but with little to fundamentally to support that lift, will moderate again later in 2026, with house prices so far unmoved and interest rates possibly set to rise quicker than expected.
- Although recent months have seen stronger consent totals overall, consents fell on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, and some of the underlying pick-up in consent momentum has now started to move sideways.
- The pick-up in townhouse consents, both overall and as a share of the total, fits in with our expectations that apartment numbers will remain subdued, and that affordability constraints will continue to support medium-density options. However, further delays and changes to Auckland planning regulations could undermine some of the sustained townhouse focus over the medium-term.
- The improvement in retirement units, despite coming off low levels, does reinforce a few conversations we’ve heard recently about a pick-up in intentions to develop, but it’s too early yet to establish too strong of a trend.
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Tue 3 Mar 2026
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36,944 Dwelling consents over the year to January 2026
1.9% Dwelling consents from December 2025 (seasonally adjusted)14% Annual townhouse consents from the year to January 2025