Building consents tumble in April

The number of new dwellings authorised in New Zealand in April fell sharply following the previous month's rush to beat higher fees and law changes, according to official data released today.

A seasonally adjusted 1756 new dwellings, the lowest monthly number since January 2002, were authorised last month, down 33.9 per cent on March, and 32 per cent lower than the same month a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said.

The data compared with a revised 2657 consents (previously 2673) issued in March, which was 6.4 per cent higher than the previous month.

However, the March figure was seen to have been boosted by builders looking to beat looming law changes and higher fees, which came into effect on April 1.

The April decline was similar to that which occured in July 2004 -- down 35.5 per cent -- after builders in the previous month had rushed to obtain consents ahead of an increase in official fees.

In the year ended April 30, there were 29,329 new dwelling unit consents issued, down 9 per cent on the previous April year.

The unadjusted number of consents issued for the month was 1617, down 47 per cent on the previous month.

On a trend basis, which removes seasonal and one-off influences, the April monthly total was down 0.3 per cent on the previous month, the first fall in eight months, the agency said.

The dwelling consents series is volatile because of fluctuations in the number issued for new apartments, of which there were 154 in April, accounting for 10 per cent of all new consents.

That compared with 882 new apartment consents issued in March, and was the lowest monthly tally since October 2003.

Excluding new apartment units, the number of seasonally adjusted new dwelling consents was down 11.6 per cent on the previous month and 19.7 per cent lower than the same month a year ago.

The total value of consents issued in April for all residential buildings, including alterations and additions, was $435 million, down 42 per cent on the previous month. This made up 66 per cent of the value of all consents issued for the month.

The value of consents issued for non-residential buildings was $228 million, down 5 per cent on the same month a year earlier.

The largest contributors were shops, restaurants, and taverns, followed by factories and industrial buildings.

The total annual value of consents for all buildings in the year ended April 30 was $10.87 billion, up 11 per cent on a year earlier.

- REUTERS