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Building site - Source: ONE News
Recovery in the house building industry took a step back in March following a strong performance in February.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show an 8.3% fall from February in the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised in March, excluding apartments. In February the number had risen 9.8%.
When apartments are included, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings authorised in March dropped just 0.4%, following a 5.8% rise in February.
The actual figures showed 1501 dwellings in total approved in March, of which 75 were apartments. That was an increase of 37.6% in total numbers from a year earlier, and an increase of 44.5% when apartments were excluded.
Residential building consents were worth $528 million in March, 29% higher than a year earlier.
Non-residential consents were worth $345m, up 3.9% from March 2009, with the value of consents for education buildings up $39m and for storage buildings up $30m, while consents for offices and administration buildings were down $36m.
The value of all consents issued in March was $873m, up 18% from a year earlier, SNZ said.
For the year to March, the number of new dwellings, excluding apartments, was up 1.2% from a year earlier to 14,166 units. Including apartments, the total for the year was down 5.3% to 15,381, the lowest annual total for a March year since 1981.
Apartment approvals fell 46% to 1215 for the 12 months, compared to the year earlier, the lowest annual total for a March year since 1996.
The value of residential consents fell 3.9% to $5.42 billion for the March year, the lowest annual total for a March year since 2002.
Non-residential consents fell 5.1% for the year to $4.33b, while the value of consents for all buildings fell 4.4% to $9.75b.
