Building consents were issued for 2152 new dwellings in October (including 179 apartments), an increase of 13.8% on the number of dwelling consents issued in September.
Statistics NZ says in the 12 months to October, 24,363 new dwelling consents were issued, up 21.7% on the 20,027 issued in the 12 months to October last year.
The number of new dwelling consents issued has been increasing at an annual rate of more than 20% for the last three years and is getting close to being double the number of consents (13,867) issued in 2009.
Canterbury maintained its top spot for the second month in a row with 686 new dwelling consents issued in October followed by Auckland with 591.
The Waikato took the number three spot with 194 consents, followed by Otago (136), Bay of Plenty (120) and Wellington (108).
In spite of government and council initiatives to increase new housing activity in Auckland, the number of new consents being issued in the region remains sluggish, and although the 591 consents issued in October was up on the 537 issued in September, it was still well down on the recent high of 849 achieved in July and still well shy of the more than 1000 a month that will be required to meet the region's current population growth.
With migration increasing Auckland's population by more than 21,000 a year, demand for housing looks likely to continue outstripping supply for a considerable period of time.
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon described the Auckland figures as concerning in a First Impressions newsletter focusing on the consent numbers.
"What's most notable is the lack of momentum in Auckland," he wrote.
"Excluding apartment units, consents actually fell further in seasonally adjusted terms.
"Given the obvious incentives to build in the region - relatively strong population growth, a greater legacy of under-building in previous years, and efforts to reduce red tape - the recent weakness in building consents is of some concern."
See the charts below for the full month by month regional breakdown of the number of consents issued:
Building consents - residential
Select chart tabs
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