Except the unpredictable apartment numbers, the number of consents issued for new homes went up 1.7% in the month of June. The month of May witnessed a 10% fall. Statistics New Zealand shared on Friday that the seasonally adjusted number of new houses, which were given authorization last month, mounted 3.5% subsequent to a 9.5% fall in May.

Last year, the 1373 residential consents, including apartments, increased from 1100 a year earlier and about 1316 consents, apart from apartments was up from 967 in June, last year.

The number of new dwellings authorized, inclusive of apartments, went up 14% as compared to last year, to 16,167 units. A fall of 26% was witnessed in the value of non-residential building consents, last month from last year, to $NZ228 million. The education buildings were down $39 million and storage buildings fell $32 million.

The offices and administration buildings witnessed the largest fall of $521 million in the category of largest non-residential category. The factories and industrial buildings fell $155 million.

The building work, which was authorized, was valued at $736 million.

In the June quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of dwelling consents, including apartments, was down 6.6%.

Jane Turner, ASB Economist said, “Dwelling consents tends to lead construction activity by around three months, and recent trends in consent issuance points to a relatively subdued recovery in residential construction activity”.