The number of building consents issued for new homes was at a six year low in the 12 months to November.
According to Statistics NZ, 33,609 building consents were issued for new dwellings in the year to November, down from 38,209 (-12.0%) in the year to November 2023 and down from 50,209 (-33.1%) compared to the year to November 2022.
That means the number of new dwellings consented has declined by a third over the two years to November, and is now at its lowest point for that period since 2018.
The decline has affected all dwelling types, with consents for new apartments down -58.8% over the last two years, followed by retirement village units -41.7%, townhouses and home units -32.2% and stand alone houses -27.6%.
The total estimated value of building work consented (excluding the cost of land) for new dwellings consented in the 12 months to November this year was $15.33 billion, down -24.9% compared to two years ago.
Around the main urban regions, new dwelling consents in the year to November were down -36% in Auckland compared to two years previously, -41% in Waikato, -23.5% in Bay of Plenty, -51.7% in Wellington Region, -26.7% in Canterbury and -8.3% in Otago.
The decline in planned building work didn't just affect residential construction, the total floor area of new, non-residential buildings consented, declined from 3,139,000 square metres in the year to November 2022, to 2,730,000 in the year to November 2023 and 2,234,000 in the year to November 2024, a decline of 28.8% over the last two years.
The two interactive charts below show the monthly trends in residential consents.
Building consents - type
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Building consents - residential
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11 Comments
A lot did leave during the GFC and a lot are leaving now. Not many come back and those that do don't want to go back to working in a trade. Now we are getting to the point where a lot are reaching retirement and since we didn't train a lot of apprentices in the 90's there aren't many to train the latest cohort.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/home-consents-up-4-8-percent-in-the-mont…
StatsNZ headlines spins the story in a much different light.....
So with the reduction in builders we'll be going back to which year did you want your new house or major reno. I may soon find out if my intended project within the next year, a fancy sleep out, eventuates.
I'm hoping Chris Bishops granny flat proposals to bypass local council as much as possible and particularly the local council's ridiculous RMA/BC requirements, come to fruition.
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