Record number of new homes consented

A record 4,490 new homes were consented in August 2021, Stats NZ said today.

The previous record was 4,310 new homes consented in June 2021.

“August was another record-breaking month with 4,490 new homes consented, despite the country being in lockdown for two weeks,” construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said.

New Zealand was at COVID-19 alert level 4 for 10 of the 22 working days in August 2021, effective from Wednesday 18 to Tuesday 31 August.

"It was also an annual record with 46,453 new homes consented in the year ended August 2021, up 24 percent from the August 2020 year,” Mr Heslop said.

The earlier high of 40,025 new homes consented in the year ended February 1974 was first exceeded in the March 2021 year.

“Auckland’s new home numbers rose 34 percent in the latest year, including a 56 percent increase in the number of multi-unit homes consented compared with the year ended August 2020,” Mr Heslop said.

Much of the growth in recent years has been from multi-unit homes, which include townhouses, flats, and units; apartments; and retirement village units.

There were 21,164 multi-unit homes consented in the year ended August 2021, up 35 percent from the previous August year. The number of new stand-alone houses rose 16 percent in the latest year to 25,289.

In Auckland, there were 12,972 multi-unit homes and 6,957 stand-alone houses consented in the year ended August 2021.