Building Consents Issued - May 1999
Small Upturn in Non-residential Building Intentions
The underlying trend for the value of consents issued for construction of both residential and non-residential building
work increased in May 1999. Increases in the non-residential building consents trend have been recorded in both April
and May 1999. This follows a year of consistent declines.
While it is too early to tell whether this is a definite turning point for non-residential building consents, it may be
that favorable conditions, such as low interest rates, that have been affecting the residential building industry are
filtering through to the non-residential building industry.
There has been a large increase in the value of consents for hospitals and nursing homes. This is mainly due to a
consent for a new private hospital in the Waitaki District. Consents for construction of, and additions to rest homes
have also contributed to the higher than average total.
The number of new dwellings authorised in May 1999 was 2,377, one of the highest totals in recent years. High monthly
totals for new dwellings in April and May have been influenced by a large number of consents for apartment units, with
these accounting for 446 and 373 of the totals respectively. Growth in residential building over the last few months has
been most apparent in Waitakere, Auckland, Manukau, Tauranga and Christchurch. These cities have shown significantly
higher totals than they had throughout most of the previous year. The strong growth in residential construction
intentions is indicative of improving domestic demand conditions.
The total value of building work authorised in May was $550 million, made up of $383 million for residential consents
and $167 million for non-residential building consents.
Ian Ewing Deputy Government Statistician 30 June 1999