Building consents issued for April rose across the country by 6.6%, but Auckland took a hit from falling apartment numbers and Christchurch was up more than 50% from a boost in retirement village units.
Eleven of the 16 regions, including Otago, covered by the Statistics New Zealand data showed gains in the number of new dwelling consents.
SNZ's business indicators senior manager, Neil Kelly, said building consents for new dwellings were at a higher level than last year but growth had eased in recent months.
He said just over 28,000 new dwellings were consented during the past year, compared with 25,000 in the previous year to April.
"This is an 11-year high. Most of the growth has been in Auckland and nearby regions, while Canterbury has decreased,'' Mr Kelly said of the year-rolling data.
For April, 1742 houses, 335 townhouses, flats or units, 259 retirement village units and 25 apartments were consented.
Westpac industry economist David Norman said residential building consents rebounded in April 2016, up 6.6%, given they had slumped almost 10% in March, but he noted SNZ's seasonal adjustment made no allowance for where Easter fell.
"There were also other lumpy influences on the data,'' he said.
In Canterbury, where the residential rebuild was broadly winding down, there was a big spike due to the consenting of more than 180 retirement village units, but in Auckland consents were down again month on month, mostly due to the lack of new multi-units being consented, he said.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said the industry backdrop "remains healthy''. More than 28,000 residential dwellings were consented in the year to April 2016.
"In addition, non-residential activity appears to be recovering following a recent softening,'' she said.
The total value of consents in April 2016 was $1.4 billion. Strong underlying house consents continued to underpin the broker's favourable outlook on the residential construction sector in New Zealand, Mrs Kinnaird said.
Residential consent numbers in April were up more than 12% on a year ago, supported in particular by strong house-consent growth during the quarter, up 21% on a year ago.
"Townhouse and retirement unit consents also remain strong, while apartment consenting has been weak recently,'' Mrs Kinnaird said.
ASB economist Jane Turner said consent numbers had been "fairly volatile'' in recent months but the underlying trend remained encouraging of broad-based growth across the country.
Auckland apartment consents remained a weak spot in recent months.
"Meanwhile, non-residential construction has slowed and we will be keeping a close eye on consent issuance in coming months,'' she said.
For each of the past three years, Otago's consents issued in April had risen incrementally. They rose from just below 100 for April 2015 to above 100 for 2016, while Auckland's declined from 900 to 700 and Canterbury's rose 54% from 229 a year ago to 656, underpinned by more retirement village units.
"The easing trend for new dwellings has been caused by a lull in apartment consents, especially in Auckland,'' Mr Kelly said.
For April 2016, the regions that consented the most new dwellings were Auckland at 699, albeit down 213 from the same month in 2015 due to a decrease in apartments; Canterbury at 656, up 229 because of retirement village units; and Waikato, up 41 to 261 with growth in new houses.
Residential work across the country was up 25%, or $191 million, to $948 million and non-residential up 9.4%, or $40 million, to $459 million.
Mr Kelly said for the year, the apartments component of the data had been virtually unchanged, following strong increases during the previous three years.
"Houses, townhouses, and retirement village units have continued to increase,'' he said.
Around the South
• The South Island had a 40% gain from 601 building consents in April a year ago, worth $206 million, to 847 this year, worth $278 million.
• Otago had 102 consents worth $42 million a year ago and 106 this year, at $44 million.
• Central Otago consents rose from 13 a year ago to 21 and Queenstown Lakes region from 58 to 59, while Dunedin dropped from 28 consents a year ago to 19.
SOURCE: Statistics New Zealand
