Highest number of homes consented in two years

Monday, 3 November 2025

Have your say in the comments below

Consents to build new homes have gone up for three months in a row, one of the signs a recovery in residential building is getting under way, economists say.

There were 34,882 new homes consented nationwide in the year ended September, an increase of 3.6% on the same time last year, Stats NZ’s latest figures show.

Of those, 3747 were issued in September, and that figure was up 7.2% from August (once seasonally adjusted), and up 27% on the same month last year.

Stats NZ economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said September recorded the highest number of new homes consented in more than two years.

“Residential construction has declined in recent years, but home consents have been trending up through 2025 and have strengthened in recent months, suggesting a possible lift in future building activity.”

Within the annual total there were 15,978 consents for stand-alone houses issued, and 18,904 multi-unit homes, which includes townhouses, apartments, retirement village units and flats.

Standalone house consents were up 1.3%, while multi-unit homes consents were up 5.6% compared with the year ended September 2024.

Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said the figures showed consent issuance was pushing higher, with September turning in the third increase in a row.

While it was early days, signs of a recovery in residential buildings were starting to emerge, he said.

“With large reductions in interest rates working their way through the economy, we expect the recovery will strengthen over the coming year.”

A significant turn-around in the final months of this year was unlikely, but so too were further significant declines, although some individual construction firms still faced tough conditions, he said.

“We expect consent numbers will continue to trend higher over the year ahead and that homebuilding activity will lift over 2026. However, that’s likely to be a gradual rise.

“While low interest rates are supporting new development, population growth remains low and there have been sizeable increases in the housing stock over the past few years.”

Those factors were still weighing on house price growth and would also be a dampener on the pace of home building, he said.

Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said September was the best month for consents since mid-2023, with lower interest rates appearing to have a positive effect on residential building intentions.

Consent numbers for the September quarter were 5.5% higher than estimated in Infometrics’ recent forecasts, and were largely due to stronger-than-expected townhouse and apartment numbers, he said.

“Nevertheless, this strength is consistent with our forecast of a rise in annual consent numbers towards 38,400 by the second half of 2026.”

There was a speculative element that would see residential consent numbers continue to increase over the next year, encouraged by lower interest rates and improving economic growth, he said.

Another sign that the tide might be starting to turn for the broader construction sector emerged in the latest Rider Levett Bucknall Crane Index.

It showed long-term crane numbers across the seven major centres increased to 116 from 105 in the third quarter, lifting the national index 10.5% to 147 points from 133.

Ray White group head of research Vanessa Rader said the crane index data revealed a sector showing tentative signs of recovery.

Cranes might be climbing, but they were doing so against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, cautious investment, rising unemployment, and declining migration, she said.

“While the long-term outlook remains positive, underpinned by a strong rural economy and the expectation of continued lower interest rates, for now the recovery is uneven.

“The improving interest rate environment may help stimulate development activity in the medium term, particularly for shovel-ready projects that have been waiting for more favourable economic conditions.”