New Zealand February Building Permits Rise 1.9%

(RTTNews) - The total number of building permits issued in New Zealand climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on month in February, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday - standing at 3,098.

That follows the downwardly revised 13.6 percent spike in January (originally 16.5 percent).

In the year ended February, the actual number of new dwellings consented was 34,262, up 9.7 percent from a year earlier.

The annual value of non-residential building work consented was NZ$7.2 billion, up 6.2 percent on year.

In the February 2019 year, the non-residential building types with the highest values?were: shops, restaurants, and bars?-?NZ$1.1 billion?(up 32?percent); education buildings?-?NZ$1.1 billion?(up 0.9?percent); and storage buildings?-?NZ$973 million?(up 27 percent).

In February consents were issued for 1,814 stand-alone houses; 566 townhouses, flats, and units; 446 apartments; and 272 retirement village units.

For stand-alone houses only, the seasonally adjusted number fell 0.5 percent, after rising 6.0 percent in January.

By region, the numbers of new dwellings consented in the year ended February 2019 were: 13,847 in Auckland - up 25 percent; 3,862 in Waikato - up 11 percent; 2,763 in Wellington - up 14 percent; 5,596 in rest of North Island - down 3.4 percent; 4,864 in Canterbury - down 2.0 percent; and 3,322 in rest of South Island - down 5.9 percent.