Building consents on a rise

Excluding apartments, consents rose 2.8% in the month, although the level of consent issuance, at 2,015, is the highest since July 2004.

Council fee increases that come into force from July are likely to have contributed to the rise in consent issuance in May, say ANZ Bank economic commentators, as builders rush to put in applications prior to this.

“Capacity pressures remain and there are signs that construction costs continue to increase – and point to housing related inflation persisting,” ANZ says in its Economic Review release today.

Statistics NZ warned that the seasonal pattern is currently not well identified and thus some caution is needed in interpreting these figures.