The number of new homes consented reached 35,472 in the year ended July 2019, the most consented in a year since the mid-1970s, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
This is the first time the number of new homes consented in a year has been over 35,000 since December 1974 when 35,036 new homes were consented, Stats NZ said.
"Although we are now consenting over 35,000 new homes a year, this is still below the record 40,025 new homes consented at the peak in the February 1974 year," construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said in a statement.
The population of New Zealand in the mid-1970s was around 3.0 million, compared with about 4.9 million at present, McKenzie said.
The number of new homes consented increased 8.0 per cent year on year, boosted by records in both Auckland and Waikato, she said.
The number of homes consented each month can vary significantly due to timing of large multi-dwelling projects, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, statistics showed.
