Housing consents drop sharply
New housing consents dropped sharply in July, proving that the surge in June was an aberration largely caused by builders trying to beat fee increases from July 1.
Wednesday, September 1st 2004, 7:45AM
by Jenny Ruth
In seasonally adjusted terms, the July consents were down 35.2% from June which recorded a revised 38.8% increase from May. Consents fell, seasonally adjusted, every month this year except for June and January and Statistics New Zealand says its trend series has been declining since January after steadily rising since April 2003.
The trend is even more marked if apartment consents are excluded – the July total of 2,076 houses was down 11.6% from July last year.
But apartment consents also dropped sharply in July to 271 from 977 in June and 306 in May.
Ulf Schoefisch, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, estimates that the underlying trend has been declining at a rate of about 3% a month since March.
The figures show 10 of the 16 regions recorded fewer consents in July than in July last year which Auckland recording the biggest decrease of 220 consents to 781. Auckland still accounted for 33% of the national July total.
In the year ended July, the 32,577 consents worth $5.9 billion were up 13% on the previous year and the largest total for a July year since 1974.
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