Building consents down but value higher

Fewer, but higher value building consents are being issued in Hawke's Bay.

Fewer building consents are being issued in Hawke's Bay, but their value is higher.

Statistics New Zealand data shows 18 consents were issued in June, 11 fewer than in June 2014. However, the total value of consents was $10 million, one million more than in June 2014.

In Napier, six consents were issued, compared to 12 in June 2014, and in Hastings, 11 consents were issued, one fewer than in June last year.

Homeworx managing director Gordon Sanson expected several factors were behind the higher value of consents.

"The economy is running a bit better so people are happy to spend more," he said. "We've had increased enquiry from outside the region, particularly from investors looking for something to buy that's affordable.

"There's also increased compliance costs around health and safety, and engineering requirements, which are still affected by the Christchurch earthquakes."

He hadn't noticed a notable drop in activity, however.

"It's always quieter during the colder months. This year has been a particularly cold winter so that might have a bit to do with it."

Nationally, 12,057 new dwellings - worth almost $4 billion - were consented in the past six months.

"The new building consent figures show the total floor area for the dwellings consented was 221 hectares," Statistics NZ's Clara Eatherley said. "This means that enough new homes were consented in the first half of 2015 to cover an area twice the size of Wellington Airport."

In June, 2042 new dwellings were consented - 40 more than in June 2014. In seasonally adjusted terms, June consents were down 4.1 per cent on May. Just over 1500 of June consents were for houses, 70 for apartments, almost 160 for retirement village units and more than 300 for townhouses, flats, and units. NZME