Townhouses push up new home consents in Auckland

The number of townhouses, flats, and units consented in the Auckland region reached a new high in the August 2019 year, up 22 percent compared with the August 2018 year, Stats NZ said today.

There were 3,789 townhouses, flats, and units consented in Auckland in the year ended August 2019.

“The number of townhouses has been steadily rising in the last few years, now making up a quarter of all new homes consented in the Auckland region,” construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

“While townhouses, flats, and units drove growth in the Auckland region in the August year, the number of apartments consented was also relatively high, but still below the peak that occurred in mid-2004,” Ms McKenzie said.

Auckland’s population was around 1.3 million in mid-2004, and is over 1.6 million now.

The greater number of multi-unit homes consented contributed to a record 14,345 total new homes consented in the August 2019 year. Stand-alone houses now account for less than half of all homes consented in Auckland.

Growth in the number of new homes consented in Auckland helped push consents nationally to 35,658, up 8.8 percent from the August 2018 year. This is still below the record 40,025 new homes consented in the February 1974 year.

Monthly new homes consented rise slightly

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of new homes consented rose 0.8 percent in August 2019, following falls in the last two months.

The number of new homes consented each month can vary significantly due to timing of large multi-unit dwelling projects, such as townhouses and apartment buildings.