New home consents remain high in April
The monthly number of new homes consented in April 2021 was 3,994, up nearly 84 percent from April 2020, Stats NZ said today.
“The number of consents issued in April 2020 was impacted by COVID-19, which included the time spent at higher alert-levels,” construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said.
The number of new homes consented in the March 2021 month was the highest since records began in the 1960s and follows high levels seen at the end of 2020.
The number of new homes consented in the year ended April 2021 was 42,848, which is the highest in the series. The number of new homes consented per 1,000 residents was 8.4 for the April period, sitting under the record of 13.4 in the year ended December 1973.
Multi-unit home numbers escalate
The increased number of new homes consented in recent years has mostly been due to a rising number of townhouses, flats, and units, which reached 12,876 in the year ended April 2021. This was an increase of nearly 45 percent compared with the same period in 2020.
“The rise in consent numbers for townhouses, flats, and units means that the typical new home is becoming smaller and is likely to be built closer to others. This trend has been particularly evident in larger cities, such as Auckland,” Mr Heslop said.
New homes consented in Auckland tops 18,000
The annual number of new homes consented in Auckland reached 18,224 in April 2021, an increase of over 23 percent from the same period in 2020. The number of new townhouses, flats, and units consented increased by nearly two-thirds in the same period, whereas stand-alone houses remained flat.
Townhouses, flats, and units accounted for around 44 percent of all new homes consented in Auckland for the year ended April 2021, and stand-alone houses around 36 percent.
The total value of consents for new homes in the year ended April 2021 reached nearly $6.6 billion. The total floor area of these consents was nearly 2.7km2.
“Within a year Auckland has consented enough new homes to provide nearly 320 rugby fields worth of additional living-space, assuming a rugby field is 70m x 120m,” Mr Heslop said.
