House building figures dip in July

The latest building consent figures suggest the recovery in building activity stuttered in July, but Statistics New Zealand says its series often shows large fluctuations from month to month so one shouldn’t read too much into an individual month’s figures.

Friday, August 24th 2001, 5:29PM

by Jenny Ruth

The government statistician says its seasonally adjusted figures show consents fell 10.7% in July following a 9.4% increase in June.

The actual figures suggest a flat market. There were 1,690 new dwellings worth $284.5 million approved in July, of which 194 worth $13.6 million were apartments. That compares with 1,688 new dwellings worth $226.4 million approved in July last year, of which 344 worth $22.7 million were apartments.

The actual July figures were higher than the 1,640 dwellings worth $238.6 million approved in June but well below the 1,856 dwellings worth $270.6 million approved in May. That was the highest monthly figure since May 2000 when 2,103 dwellings worth $288.3 million were approved.

Statistics New Zealand says that apart from the traditionally quiet months of December, January and February, the monthly figures have fluctuated between 1,500 and 1,800 a month since July last year. By contrast, between March 1999 and November 1999 the number of consents each month was consistently above 2,000.

In the year ended July, there were 19,279 new dwellings worth $2.87 billion approved, down from 23,404 worth $3.27 billion approved in the previous year. In the years ended July 1997 to 1999, consents were consistently above 23,000.

The number of apartments approved in the latest year was 2,030 worth $180.2 million, down from 3,362 worth $283.3 million in the previous year.

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