House-building sector still down in the dumps

The house-building sector is still in the doldrums, according to figures out yesterday from Statistics New Zealand.

A partial rebound last month was driven by a rise in the number of apartments but overall the sector remains down.

In February, 1059 dwellings were authorised, of which 193 were apartments. In February last year, 1874 dwellings were authorised.

Seasonally adjusted, the total number of new dwellings was up 12 per cent in February after falling 13 per cent in January. When apartments were excluded the improvement in February was just 0.3 per cent.

Statistics NZ said February's building consent data showed the number of new houses authorised, excluding apartments, had declined steadily since June 2007.

To read the full NZ Herald story click here

Posted: 31 Mar 2009

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