Dwelling consents continued to track sideways as signs emerge of Canterbury construction activity already tapering off.
Statistics New Zealand figures showed 217 consents for new dwellings were issued in Canterbury in April compared to 341 in March and 356 in April last year.
ASB senior economist Jane Turner said it appeared Canterbury housing construction would peak this year.
''The extent of the recent drop off in Canterbury residential consent issuance has been surprising, as we had expected construction activity to hold up at elevated levels.''
Since June 2011, only $5.8 billion of residential construction work had been completed in Canterbury compared to the Treasury's estimate of $18 billion earthquake damage to housing, she said.
The increase in Auckland residential building activity was still not enough to keep up with demand growth and existing under supply.
Statistics NZ figures showed 712 dwelling consents issued in Auckland in April compared to 697 in March.
The lack of progress on Auckland's housing construction might frustrate policymakers, although recent changes to the Reserve Bank lending restrictions could, at the margin, boost investor led demand for new builds, Ms Turner said.
Auckland had a lift in building consents while most other regions had a decline. The lift in Auckland was largely attributed to the 438 apartment consents. Apartment consents were typically ''lumpy'' month by month.
The number of townhouses consented in Auckland dropped, as did the number of stand alone houses. Auckland required a further increase in the number of dwellings constructed to keep up with population growth and existing under supply, she said.
''Given the rising cost of land in Auckland, this lift in housing construction is more likely to come through denser housing solutions such as townhouses and apartments.''
Construction activity was likely to peak in the first half of the year, Ms Turner said. She expected residential and non residential construction to hold at relatively elevated levels for next year, with indications demand remained strong.
''We continue to expect the Reserve Bank to cut the official cash rates by 0.5% later this year.''
Forsyth Barr broker Andrew Rooney said non residential consenting continued to rise but the rate of growth was slipping. Canterbury commercial consents appeared to have reached a plateau but with most larger rebuild projects still to be consented, the outlook remained positive.
''It's difficult to draw too many conclusions from the volatile nature of Auckland's commercial consents, which have experienced a mixed start to the year.''
