RMBF says stats confirm spikes in main centres but rest of NZ flat

Registered Master Builders Federation (RMBF) says the latest building consent figures released today confirm expectations that the Canterbury and Auckland regions will lead new residential building while the rest of New Zealand will remain flat.

Statistics New Zealand figures show 1,520 new homes and apartment consents were issued for September 2012, a 22% increase on the same month last year and virtually the same numbers as August 2012 (which saw 1,513 new houses and apartments).

RMBF CEO Warwick Quinn has been predicting a ‘tale of two cities’ for some time. Canterbury is up 80% on September 2011 levels and Auckland up 50%. He says while most of New Zealand is lacklustre the Canterbury and Auckland areas continue to experience growth due to the rebuild in Canterbury and housing shortages in Auckland. Mr Quinn says the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts have shown steady increases over the last 12 months while Christchurch City has been slow and only recently showing greater signs of activity. He expects this trend to continue as rebuilding gets underway and for Christchurch City to improve markedly in 2013.

Mr Quinn says the housing pressures in Auckland and Canterbury are also driving up property values. These are the only regions in New Zealand that have rising prices which generates greater levels of building activity to meet a shortfall in supply. The rest of New Zealand has flat property prices and thus similar levels of building activity.      

However, Mr Quinn says while the increased level of work is welcomed building activity is still very low overall. “We are likely to build around 16,500 new homes and apartments this year when New Zealand should be building in the order of 20,000 – 25,000 per annum” he says.

However, he says there has never been a better time to build with low interest rates and a highly competitive market but this window will close once the Canterbury rebuild starts in earnest and the economy picks up again.