The value of consents for all buildings fell to $537 million in January -- the lowest level in nine years and 11 percent lower than a year earlier.
Residential building consents in January were down 19 percent from a year earlier at $309m, the lowest level since January 2002, while the
value of non-residential consents rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier to $228m.
Figures published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show 867 dwelling units, including apartments, authorised in January, the second-lowest level on record and 17 percent lower than a year earlier.
Excluding apartments, 777 new dwelling units were approved, down 22 percent from January 2010. There were 90 apartments.
Seasonally adjusted, new dwellings including apartments rose 9.6 percent from December, while new dwellings excluding apartments rose 7.7 percent.
Those increases were a reflection of the size of the decline in December compared to normal seasonal variation, SNZ said.
The trend for new dwellings including apartments was down 23 percent since last April, while the trend for dwellings excluding apartments was down 27 percent since last March.
For the year ended January, the total value of consents for all buildings was down 3 percent from a year earlier to $9.27 billion, while for residential buildings it was up 6.5 percent to $5.5 billion, and for non-residential down 14 percent to $3.77 billion.
