Housing crisis: record number of housing permits granted in Auckland

By RNZ

This year, the Auckland Council approved a record number of housing consents, the highest since registrations began in the 1990s.

In September, the city council issued the permit for 1,734 new residential construction in the city, bringing the total number of permits for new homes this year to 15,470.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said 56 percent were townhouses and apartments, with the remainder being detached houses or retirement villages.

The high number of homes reflects progress in dealing with the housing supply, but house prices were still on the rise, which could be problematic for first-time home buyers, he said.

The council forecast that house prices will fall 7.5 percent due to Covid, but prices “have continued to rise perhaps as much as 12 percent during the year.”

Goff said a buoyant housing market stimulates economic recovery and higher supply “would cushion the inflationary impact of house prices.”

Building more homes would help balance supply and demand, reducing the rate of increases and addressing housing shortages and affordability in due course, he said.

Of the 15,470 new consents so far this year, 11,000 are almost built.

The September consents included homes in Drury, Takanini, Milldale, Dairy Flat, Māngere, Mount Roskill and Oranga.