Residential housing market booming in NZ
The residential building sector is surging in New Zealand, with a record quarterly high in the number of new homes granted consent.
The figures show the sector is responding to government support to get new houses built, says building and construction minister Poto Williams.
New figures from Statistics New Zealand show 11,291 new homes were approved in the December 2020 quarter – the highest quarterly number ever – beating the previous record of 10,713 from the December 1973 quarter.
“For the year ended December 2020, the number of new homes consented was 39,420,” said Williams. “The figures show that despite uncertainty caused by Covid-19 there is a lot of residential activity in the pipeline especially for townhouses, flats and units.
“As most residential building work is completed within two years of the consent being granted, the data will provide certainty to the construction sector of the anticipated activity in the coming years.”