Dwelling consents down, but office building still strong

Statistics NZ said yesterday that 1977 new dwelling unit consents were issued in May, down 22 per cent on the same month last year.

The total value of the consents was $873 million, with approvals given for $536 million of residential work $50 million lower.

Approvals for apartments have dropped sharply - from 10 per cent of all approvals last May to 6 per cent. Consents were issued for 111 new apartments in May, compared with 154 in April.

But work on non-residential building was up $93 million on a year ago at $337 million, with the largest contributor being consents for office and administrative buildings - worth $72 million.

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