WELLINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Approval for the construction of stand-alone houses in the September 2024 quarter in New Zealand was up 24 percent compared with the September 2023 quarter, marking the first quarter of a year-on-year increase in the number of stand-alone houses consented since December 2021, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
There were 9,176 new homes consented in New Zealand in the September 2024 quarter, up 0.5 percent compared with the September 2023 quarter, Stats NZ said.
Besides stand-alone houses, there were 4,691 multi-unit homes consented, down 15 percent year on year, it said, adding multi-unit homes include townhouses, apartments, retirement village units, and flats.
There were 3,561 townhouses, flats, and units, down 20 percent year on year, 424 apartments, down 28 percent year on year, and 706 retirement village units, up 49 percent year on year, said Stats NZ economic indicators manager Michael Heslop.
The annual number of homes consented was down 17 percent, as there were 33,677 new homes consented in the year ended September 2024, Heslop said.
"The annual number of new homes consented is still decreasing, but the pace is easing," he said. ■
