Data Flash (New Zealand) NZ Building Consents - March 2001
Key points
The number of new dwelling consents issued decreased 1.2% mom in March and was 12.4% lower than a year earlier.
Non-residential building consents with a value of $226m were issued in March. The value of non-residential consents
issued in the three months to March was 20.5% higher than a year earlier.
Commentary
At this stage the modest lift in secondary house sales over recent months has yet to feed through into stronger demand
for new dwellings, with the latter remaining at around the low level seen since April last year. A strong labour market
and robust levels of consumer confidence, assisted by lower mortgage rates, has been offset by strong migrant outflows,
which have acted to reduce the population growth rate and thus the rate of growth required in the housing stock. A
continuation of this trend is a feature of our Economic Forecasts, which suggest no meaningful cyclical upswing in the
housing market until 2002. On a more positive note, however, consents for non-residential building activity remain quite
robust, in line with the broader performance of the economy.
Darren Gibbs, Senior Economist
This, along with an extensive range of other publications, is available on our web site http://research.gm.db.com
If you would like to be removed from our mailing lists please contact your usual Deutsche Bank representative.