The total number of building permits issued in New Zealand advanced a seasonally adjusted 11.0 percent on month in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday – standing at 2,271, a nine-year high.
That topped forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 6.3 percent contraction in February.
“Townhouses, units, and retirement villages have driven the increase in new dwelling consents over the past year,” business indicators manager Neil Kelly said.
On a yearly basis, the total number of permits issued spiked 14.0 percent.
The value of permits issued in March climbed NZ$128 million or 10 percent to NZ$1.4 billion.
Individually, residential work was up NZ$125 million or 16 percent to NZ$925 million, while non-residential work added NZ$3 million or 0.7 percent to NZ$427 million.
By region, there were 756 permits issued in Auckland (of which 449 were houses). Canterbury had 588 permits (of which 460 were houses) and Waikato had 219 (of which 186 were houses).
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com