With the release of the last 2015 consent figures, we now have a clearer picture of the full calendar year.

Above: Residential consent value, 2014-2015.

For the full 12-month year, Stats NZ shows 2015's dwelling consents finished +10.7% by value and +10.2% by volume.

Although both substantially down on previous recent years’ growth (see below), the year’s total of 27,132 new dwellings was the highest since 2004, when 31,423 new dwellings were consented.

In 2015, the total value of consents for all building (including alterations & additions) was $16.4 billion, +12% (+$1.8 billion) from 2014.

The year-end value of all residential building was +10%, and for non-residential building +16%.

Dwelling growth around the regions

The number of new dwellings consented during the year increased in 11 of the 16 regions in 2015. The regions with the largest increases were:

Auckland: +21% to 9,251.
Waikato: +27% to 3,000.
Bay of Plenty: +35% to 1,901.

The region with the largest decrease was Canterbury with 6,489 consents (–11%), after reaching an all-time high in 2014.

The regions that consented the most dwellings in 2015 were:

Auckland (34% of the national total).
Canterbury (24%).
Waikato (11%).
Bay of Plenty (7%).

Multi-unit drives year-end dwelling volumes

Total dwelling consents for the calendar year showed greatest growth among multi-unit dwellings :

19,038 houses (+3.7).
3,656 townhouses, flats & units (+34%).
2,539 apartments (+48%).
1,899 retirement village units (–0.9%).

Showing a slowing growth rate, this shows 12-month residential consent totals by volume and value for the 12 months to December 2015:

Year Volume Value

2007 25,590

2008 18,456 –27.9%

2009 14,425 –21.8%

2010 15,602 +8.2%

2011 13,695 –12.2% $4.92b

2012 16,929 +23.6% $6.17b +25.4%

2013 21,300 +25.8% $7.90b +27.9%

2014 24,624 +15.6% $9.50b +20.3%

2015 27,132 +10.2% $10.52b +10.7%

Above: Non-residential consent value, 2014-2015.

Non-residential value ups & downs

Education buildings were influential by year end, showing the largest increase among 2015’s non-residential work, to $1.1 billion, +58% from 2014. More than half this increase came from tertiary education buildings, says Stats NZ.

The other significant non-residential increases were:

Storage buildings: +44% to $713 million
Hospitals, nursing homes & other health buildings: +30% to $549 million.

Consents for offices, administration & public transport buildings had the highest total value, at $1.2 billion although this figure was actually –2.3% on 2014.

The only other decreases for non-residential building consents were:

Factories & industrial buildings: – 9.3% to $509 million.
Farm buildings: –16% to $269 million.

Both decreases were dairy-related.

Canterbury takes non-residential value lead

In 2015, for the first time on record, and for obvious reasons, the value of non-residential building consents in Canterbury was higher than in Auckland.

The highest value regions for non-residential building consents during the year were: