Yesterday Statistics NZ released November’s building consent figures which shows that over $16 billion worth of building work has been consented over the 12 months to November 2015, following a record $1.6 billion in November — the highest month on record. For the first time over $1 billion of residential work was consented, driven by strong growth in Auckland, Wellington and BOP/Waikato.

Annually, residential building consents have broken the 26,000 mark, up over 9% from 2014 to 26,793 with a value of $8.6 billion. The 12 months to November 2015 not only saw an increased number of consents, it also represented a wider mix of residential building types:

• 18,823 homes
• 3,621 townhouses, flats and units
• 2,263 apartments
• 2,086 retirement village units

New consents for non-residential work are also growing, up 14.5% on 2014 to $5.8 billion, again with a wide mix of building types.

To learn more you can read the full report from Statistics NZ.