A drop in consents for new apartments has seen growth in the Auckland construction market slow.
New figures from Statistics NZ show 699 new dwellings were consented in Auckland in April, down 213 from the same month last year.
"The easing trend for new dwellings has been caused by a lull in apartment consents, especially in Auckland," says business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly.
"However, apartment numbers tend to be quite volatile. For standalone houses, the trend is still increasing."
Auckland consent numbers reached an 11-year high in 2015, which has since eased.
Across the country 2361 new dwellings were granted consent, worth $1.4 billion. About two-thirds was for residential buildings.
In Canterbury there were 656, up 229 on last year because of a jump in units in retirement villages.
Waikato approved the third-most, with 261 -- up 41 due to growth in new houses.
In the past 12 months, 28,000 new dwellings have been approved -- up 3000 on the previous year. New apartment consents, seen as key to alleviating demand in Auckland, however remain static.
Office buildings in the city are being turned into apartments to cope with the demand, putting pressure on the commercial sector.
Newshub.
