NZ: Dwelling consent issuance rose by 1.9% in February - Westpac

Satish Ranchhod, senior economist at Westpac, notes that the New Zealand’s residential dwelling consent issuance rose by 1.9% in February, while in annual terms, the number of homes being consented is at a 44 year high, with just over 34,000 new homes consented over the past year.

Key Quotes

“Today’s result was stronger than we had expected – we were forecasting a 10% drop after last month’s 13% rise. However, the construction sector is showing some solid momentum, particularly in Auckland.”

“Auckland consented more than 14,000 new homes over the past year – the highest level in decades.”

“Strength in consent numbers is not limited to Auckland. Low interest rates, strong house price gains and firmness in export incomes supporting home building in many areas.”

“Today’s data, along with firmness in recent months, reinforces our expectations that building activity will take another leg higher over 2019. In fact, the extend of that pick up could be even larger than we had been factoring in.”