Above: The value of residential building consents, June 2014 to May 2016 ($ millions).

Statistics NZ’s May 2016 consent figures are all positive but come with a warning that the trend is flattening.

The actual value of building work consented in May 2016 was $1.6 billion, comprising:

Residential: $1,078 million (+24%).
Non-residential: $492 million (+1.1%).

Houses have it in volume - Consents were issued for 2,520 new dwellings (+16% on May 2015), comprising:

1,956 houses (the highest number since August 2007).
327 townhouses, flats & units.
121 retirement village units.
116 apartments.

Dwellings around the regions - In 10 of the 16 regions, the number of new dwellings consented in May 2016 was up on May 2015. The regions with the largest increases were:

Northland: 114 (+87%).
Bay of Plenty: 242 (+67%).
Waikato: 317 (+25%).
Auckland: 732 (+12%).
Canterbury: 618 (+13%).

Dwellings year to date - In the 12 months to May 2016, 28,387 new dwellings were consented (+13% on the May 2015 year) which Stats NZ says is an 11-year high.

Most of the growth was in the Auckland and nearby regions, while Canterbury decreased.

Our running tally for the calendar year to date (Jan-May 2016) shows a slight flattening of growth but still comfortably ahead on the equivalent period last year:

Volume Value ($ millions)

2007 10,345

2008 9,210 –11.0%

2009 5,209 –43.4%

2010 6,678 +28.2%

2011 4,993 –25.2% 1,861

2012 6,463 +29.4% 2,363 +27.0%

2013 8,055 +24.6% 3,042 +28.7%

2014 9,614 +19.4% 3,749 +23.2%

2015 10,015 +4.2% 3,964 +5.7%

2016 11,270 +12.5% 4,880 +23.1%

Education leads non-residential value

The value of consents for non-residential buildings in May was $492 million (+1.1%), the largest contributors to which were:

Education: $115 million.
Shops, restaurants & bars: $100 million.
Offices, administration & public transport: $66 million.

Canterbury close behind Auckland in non-residential - In the year to May 2016, the regions that saw the highest value of non-residential building consents were:

Auckland: $1.9 billion.
Canterbury: $1.8 billion.
Wellington: $0.5 billion.

Summary, year to date

For the 12 months ended May 2016, compared with the year ended May 2015, the consent values increased for: