NZ: Dwelling consent issuance fell 8.5% in November – Westpac

Satish Ranchhod, senior economist at Westpac, notes that New Zealand’s dwelling consent issuance fell 8.5% in November.

Key Quotes

“That fall followed strong issuance over the past year, which included a very large number of consents for multi-unit developments, like apartments and townhouses. That’s taken the number of new dwellings consented over the past 12 months to just over 37,000 - a 45 year high.”

“Today’s result was a bit softer than our forecast for a 2% decline. However, the ongoing shift in New Zealand construction towards medium density structures means that consent numbers are becoming increasingly volatile on a month-to-month basis. Today’s result is still consistent with our expectations for firm construction activity through the early part of 2020.”