2021.05.0523:45:00UTC+00New Zealand Building Permits Spike 17.9% In March

The total number of building permits issued in New Zealand surged a seasonally adjusted 17.9 percent on month in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday - standing at 4,218.

That follows the 19.3 percent monthly contraction in February.

Permits were issued for 2,438 stand-alone houses; 1,243 townhouses, flats and units; 276 retirement village units; and 261 apartments.

"The increased number of new homes consented in recent years has mostly been due to a rise in consents for higher density homes, such as townhouses. The number of stand-alone houses consented in this period has been relatively flat," construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said.

In the year to March, building permits climbed 9.1 percent at 41,028.

The annual value of non-residential building work consented was NZ$7.5 billion, up 5.3 percent from the March 2020 year.

In the March 2021 year, the non-residential building types with the highest values were: education buildings - NZ$1.4 billion (up 46 percent); storage buildings - NZ$1.1 billion (up 26 percent); and offices, administration, and public transport buildings - NZ$1.0 billion (up 9.1 percent).

By region, the numbers of new dwellings consented in the year ended March 2021 were: 17,495 in Auckland - up 17 percent; 4,296 in Waikato - up 2.4 percent; 3,037 in Wellington - down 8.1 percent; 6,708 in rest of North Island - up 13 percent; 6,083 in Canterbury - up 12 percent; and 3,400 in rest of South Island - down 11 percent.