New stand-alone houses pick up

Building consents for stand-alone houses have made a comeback over the past year after falling slightly during the previous two years, Stats NZ said today.

Over 22,000 new stand-alone houses were consented to be built in the year ended October – up 5.4 percent, contributing to a total of nearly 37,000 new homes consented.

“While high-density homes such as flats and apartments are growing at a faster rate, traditional stand-alone houses still account for about 60 percent of all homes consented,” construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

In the October 2019 year, Auckland and Canterbury (particularly Selwyn district) were the main areas driving growth in the number of new stand-alone houses consented. These are both areas with recent population growth. See Estimated population up in all regions.

“On average, the floor area of consented stand-alone houses in the October year was 195 square metres – down from a peak of 218 square metres in 2009,” Ms McKenzie said.

“New stand-alone houses tend to be much bigger than other options such as apartments and townhouses, which are roughly 100 square metres on average.”

These average floor areas are influenced by garages in houses and townhouses, and shared spaces in apartment buildings (such as corridors and basement carparking).

Stand-alone houses soften fall in October month

In the October 2019 month, the number of new homes consented fell a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent, following a 7.4 percent rise in September.

This fall was driven by a drop in the number of apartments consented. Stand-alone houses rose a seasonally adjusted 7.3 percent (following a 4.6 percent fall in September).

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