The number of new dwellings approved fell for the second straight month in October, led by falls in apartment consents, Statistics New Zealand said today.
The number of consents fell a seasonally adjusted 4.8 per cent from September, and was 16 per cent lower than the same montha year earlier.
The Reserve Bank, which has lifted interest rates four times this year to 8.25 per cent, has cited strength in the housing and property markets as a major inflation concern.
SNZ said a seasonally adjusted 1933 new dwellings were approved for the month against a revised 2031 in September, which was down 10.2 per cent on the previous month.
The unadjusted number of new dwelling consents issued for the
month was 2085, compared with a revised 1988 the month before.
The dwelling consents series is volatile because of fluctuations in the number of new apartments, which accounted for 5 per cent of approvals in October, compared with a monthly average of 10 per cent during the previous 12 months.
Excluding new apartment units, the number of seasonally adjusted new dwelling consents fell 1.7 per cent on the previous month.
The government agency said that on a trend basis, which removes seasonal and one-off factors, the number of consents issued in October fell 3.6 per cent on the previous month.
In the year ended October 31, there were 25,732 new dwelling unit consents issued, down 3.2 per cent from the previous October year.
The total value of consents issued for the month for all residential buildings, including alterations and additions, was $646 million, down 3.4 per cent on the same month a year ago.
The value of consents issued for non-residential buildings was $381 million, up 15 per cent on the same month a year ago.
The value of consents for all buildings in the year to October was $1.03 billion, up 2.8 per cent from the previous year.
