Queenstown-Lakes is leading a southern building boom, according to figures released yesterday by Statistics NZ.
The district issued 107 consents in March, the highest monthly number since the 109 issued in August last year.
Fifty-nine consents were issued in Queenstown-Lakes in January, 79 in February and 107 last month.
Statistics NZ does not provide the value of the district consents, but the value of Otago consents generally rose to $91million in March from $80millon in February and $54million in January.
The March value was the highest for at least 12 months. In March last year, consents worth $52million were issued.
In Dunedin, 60 consents were issued in March, again the highest for more than a year. Forty-three consents were issued in February and 29 were issued in January.
Invercargill consents were unchanged from February at 12, but Central Otago fell to 35 from 44 in February.
Southland consents were worth $7million in March, up from $6million in February.
Statistics NZ figures showed of the $2billion in value, $1.2billion was for new homes and residential alterations and $837million was for offices, hotels, hospitals, shops and other non-residential buildings.
All values were record highs but were not adjusted for inflation.In actual terms, a total of 2779 new homes were consented in March, up 20% on March last year.
In the year to March, 30,626 homes were consented, up 10% on the previous corresponding period. The latest figures included 10,199 new homes in Auckland.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said New Zealand’s construction boom looked set to continue after a "thumping" $837million of non-residential consents were issued in March.
A typical rate was about $450million to $530million a month and March’s rise came on top of already high levels of non-residential building demand.
A consent for the $141million Park Hyatt Hotel, in Auckland, contributed to the $167million of consents issued in the hotel and motel category.
"The tourism boom is placing pressure on New Zealand’s accommodation capacity and it is encouraging to see this is translating into increased investment," Mr Tuffley said.
Beyond accommodation, the lift in non-residential con-sents was broad-based, albeit modest, consistent with a booming economy and growing capacity constraints encouraging non-residential investment, he said.
Strong population growth had lifted housing demand right across New Zealand, but supply challenges remained most acute in Auckland and Wellington.
It was encouraging to see the trend in building consents had ceased its recent decline and started to increase in March, Mr Tuffley said.
