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Summary
- More new homes are getting approvals for construction with 11,291 new dwellings consented in Q4 of 2020.
- The total value of residential consents in the year ended December 2020 was nearly $16.5 billion.
- The value of residential consents increased more rapidly than non-residential.
Residential construction continues to be on a rise. New homes consented reached a record high in Q4 of 2020.
As per Stats NZ, 11,291 new homes were consented in the fourth quarter of 2020, beating the earlier record of 10,713 set in December 1973.
The number of new homes consented was 39,420 for the year ended December 2020, a rise of 4.8% from 2019. This is an remarkable rise amid COVID-19-induced lockdowns disturbed 2020 figures.
Michael Heslop, construction statistics manager, stated that if such high figures for a number of new homes consented persists, the annual numbers could also surpass those from the 1970s. However, the figures from the 1970s are still much higher if the population size is considered.
Source: © Terovesalainen | Megapixl.com
In December 2020, the number of new homes approved for every 1,000 residents was 7.8. These figures stood at 13.4 in December 1973. New Zealand has a population of 5 million today compared to 3 million in the mid-1970s.
Mr Heslop stated that the biggest rise has come from flats, new townhouses, and units consented, which increased to 11,603 in December 2020, up by 41.4% compared to 26.5% growth in the year before.
High levels of new homes consented are followed by high levels of building activity in subsequent quarters, which has extensive advantages for the economy, Mr Heslop added.
New building consents across regions in 2020
A total of 3,751 new dwellings were given approval in December 2020. Stand alone houses were the top category of homes being constructed, followed by townhouse, flats, units, and apartments in December 2020.
By region, the number of new dwellings consented stood at 16,656 for Auckland, up by 9.9% in 2020 compared to 2019. Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Canterbury and Tasman were some of the other regions to report a rise in new dwellings in the last month of 2020.
Source: © Walleyelj | Megapixl.com
Waikato, Northland, Nelson, and Wellington are some regions where number of homes consented was down compared to 2019.
Value of residential consents increased
The value of residential consents stood at $16.5 billion in 2020, which comprised 68% of overall value of all consents. The significance of residential consent has risen more rapidly in the last decade than its non-residential peer. However, this has not been adjusted for inflation, and for different forms of construction may differ.
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Building approvals reflect a willingness to construct. Traditionally, certain forms of construction can lead to longer phases of construction activity and can also require several levels of approval lasting several years.
On 5 March 2021, details on the actual valuation of the construction work put in place for the December 2020 quarter will be released.
(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)
