2018.03.2818:30:00UTC+00New Zealand February Building Consents Climb 5.7%

The total number of building consents issued in New Zealand jumped a seasonally adjusted 5.7 percent on month in February, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.

That follows the downwardly revised flat reading in January (originally up 0.2 percent). Consents tumbled 9.6 percent in December.

"Growth in the last 12 months has been driven by multi-unit dwellings, such as apartments and townhouses," construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

Apartment numbers rose 29 percent to 3,166, compared with the February 2017 year. In addition, 5,077 townhouses, flats, and units were consented, up 12 percent over the same period.

In contrast, new stand-alone house numbers were down 1.3 percent to 21,052 in the latest year, although they still accounted for two-thirds of all new homes.

On a yearly basis, the total number of new homes consented climbed 3.6 percent in February.

"New homes data is volatile month to month, so we recommend using annual figures to see underlying changes," McKenzie said.