Business

New building consents down

12:09 pm on 30 November 2012

The number of building consents for new houses slipped last month, although consents are still at their highest for four years.

Official figures show permits issued for new homes fell a seasonally adjusted 1.5% to 1519 in October, compared with the previous month, and 24% on a year ago.

Excluding apartment numbers, consents fell 2%.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said October has maintained the past year's trend of strong growth in building consents from a low base.

But he said this is being driven by construction in Christchurch and Auckland.