Housing consents soar 15pc in April

The trend for new housing consents jumped 15.5 per cent in April, to reach the highest level in two years, says Statistics New Zealand.

The numbers, which exclude the volatile apartment sector, follow an 8.6 per cent fall during March, and an earlier smaller rise of 10.5 per cent in February.

However the trend is still 29 per cent lower than the peak of June 2007.
When the apartment sector is included, the number of new housing units authorised rose 8.5 per cent, following a 0.1 per cent rise in March.

The actual figures show a total of 1400 dwellings were approved in April, of which 91 were apartments.

All building consents were worth $807 million in April, an 8.8 per cent decrease on a year ago.

Residential building consents were worth $480 million in April, 35 per cent higher than one year ago, while the value of non-residential building consents was 38 per cent down on April 2009, a series record which was boosted by the Christchurch International Airport development.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 28 May 2010

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