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Satish Ranchhod, senior economist at Westpac, notes that the New Zealand’s residential consent issuance rose 16% in January, with annual issuance now at a 44 year high.

Key Quotes

“Residential dwelling consent issuance rose by 16.1% in January. In annual terms, the number of homes being consented is at a 44 year high, with 33,576 new homes consented over the past year.”

“Today’s result was stronger than we had expected – we we’re forecasting a 2% drop after last month’s bounce. However, it’s not unusual to get large month-to-month swings in consent numbers associated with apartments or medium density projects which tend to be issued in lumps. We would expect to see some reversal next month.”

“The size of the January rise may also have been exaggerated by seasonal trends – while issuance usually eases back during the January holiday period, this year it held up.”