Sharp drop in building consents

Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod had predicted they would drop by about 5%. He says the big fall doesn’t mean the construction sector is losing steam.

His 5% prediction was off the back of January’s figures boosted by a large number of apartment consents, which can swing around by large numbers on a month-to-month basis.

“The Covid alert level also dialled up late last month.”

To put last month’s fall in context, Ranchhod says it still leaves monthly consents running at the sort of firm levels prior to the Covid outbreak.