WELLINGTON: New Zealand building approvals logged their largest percentage fall in five months in June with Statistics New Zealand reporting a decline of 4.1%.
The figure, following flat growth in May, left total approvals from a year earlier up 2.0% at 2,042.
Auckland, the nation’s capital and a hot topic of debate given soaring house price appreciation in recent years, saw approvals jump by 18% from 12 months earlier to 704.
Over the month the total value of consents for all buildings was $1.3 billion, comprising $832 million for residential buildings and $454 million for non-residential buildings, said Statistics New Zealand’s business indicators manager Clara Eatherley.
Between January and June 2015, 12,057 new dwellings, worth almost $4 billion, were consented, she added.
