The latest residential building consent figures are a mixed bag, with consents rising in Auckland and declining in Canterbury.
According to Statistics NZ consents were issued for 2349 new dwellings throughout the country in October, compared to 2242 September and the 2152 issued in October last year.
In Auckland, new dwelling consents jumped to 805 in October, which was well up on the 643 issued in September and the 591 issued in October last year, but still below 1116 issued in July this year.
Unfortunately the number of new consents being issued still falls far short of what is required to meet the region's migration-fuelled population growth.
It is estimated that Auckland needs at least 14,500 new homes a year just to keep pace with it's growing population, which is an average of 1208 new homes a month.
That means only around two thirds of the required number of consents were issued in Auckland in October and the region's housing shortage worsened by about 400 homes for the month.
It also means that the number of new homes being consented in Auckland will need to increase by around 50% before the supply of new home starts catching up with population growth, but even then that won't be enough to put a dent in the existing shortage of homes in the region.
In Canterbury the number of new homes consented declined for the third month in a row, with 489 new homes consented in October compared with 525 in September and 686 in October last year.
In the Waikato 259 new homes were consented compared to 320 in September and 194 in October last year ,and in the Bay of Plenty 205 homes were consented in October compared with 188 in September and 120 in October last year.
In Wellington 126 new homes were consented in October, unchanged from September and up from 108 in October last year.
The total value of new dwelling consents issued for the whole of the country was $757 million in October, virtually unchanged from September's $755 million and only slightly ahead of the $722 million of new dwelling consents issued in October last year.
On the commercial building front, the value of non-residential building consents fell for the second month in a row, with $479 million of non-residential building projects consented in October, which included consents for commercial premises such as shops, factories and offices as well as buildings such as hospitals and schools.
That compares with $619 million of non-residential consents issued in September, $671 million issued in August and $457 million issued in October last year.
Building consents - residential
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9 Comments
In this Zombie - Economy ( Yes Its really a Thing ..... Urban Dictionary it ! ) , we think we are all creating wealth and getting rich on trading houses ..........all the while heartily congratulating ourselves that we are doing so well , better that Oz , etc .
This is so far from reality its just not true .
Its absolutely ridiculous that the GV of my home has gone up by a staggering $5,000 a week in the past year .
I cannot earn that sort of money (tax free ) now matter how hard I work , and actually regret not investing in residential property a few years ago .
We need to realise that inward -migration is only going to sustain this merry-go -round for so long , at some time the music will stop , or the hub will come apart , or the whole thing will seize up under the weight of ever increasing house prices ........ and all hell may break loose .
The sooner sense comes back to this Auckland property market , the better for our long-term health
Said it so many times before, nothing else works - regulate a cap on rents, limit non resident ownership and watch it all come back to reality where kiwis can afford their own homes again. Save the Govt $tens of millions in accommodation supplements, big hit to poverty putting more money in peoples pockets, opportunity increases and so on. Instead the Govt are working smoke and mirrors encouraging investors into the regions where they are creating a worse scenario because there is less economic opportunity for the locals.
Murray , mate a cap on rents simply will not work . The free market forces are too powerful , and there really is a housing shortage, the price ( rent) is simply the market reacting to the demand for housing
Price controls have never , ever worked here or in Oz , or anywhere else in the Commonwealth for that matter
I find it hard to accept this type of commentary as anything more than scaremongering by invested parties.
Dwellings, homes, house, property are all used as interchangeable terms. A dwelling could be of any type from studio apartment with no land and shared facilities to an 18 bedroom 22 bathroom mansion set on sweeping park-like grounds.
Statistics do not account for such things as the shift in society which sees young people move out of their parents home leaving a lot of disused space.
The question is, could you sell more property if it was there to sell? The answer is always yes, so it is reported we have a shortage.
If the statistics accurately reflected actual vacant accommodation the view would be quite different.
For example: Q1: how many people is your home designed to house? Q2: how many does it currently house?
When I see that result I will make my own judgement.
An increasing shortage of houses can only mean one thing. Upward pressure on prices.
The doom, gloom and despondency brigade on interest.co.nz who moan about house prices should now give up and accept that houses, conservatively financed and held for the long term, will continue to be a safe investment... and also a fine way to contribute to society and the economy.
In fact the government should do more, not less, to encourage property investors and the provision of housing in New Zealand.
PIs are such a fine group of kind-hearted people that they should be helped more to improve society.
What are you on about xelnaga?
People have a choice. Many many people... the majority... chose to buy a house. Good on them and they have placed their money in a safe place for the long term.
And many people... but less than the home-buyer numbers... chose to rent. Good on them too. Renting is a viable option, I did it for several years when it suited me to.
Mutual gains from voluntary exchange xelnaga.
We are all winners and especially so living in our great country.
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