Nationally, consenting numbers for May last year rose from 2520, worth $899million to 2794 this year, worth $1.03billion, which includes houses, units, retirement units, townhouses and apartments.
ASB senior economist Jane Turner said strong population growth in recent years had lifted demand and she expected the housing sector to remain strong for at least another year.
"Residential consents had started to unexpectedly fall in late 2016, but appear to now be recovering again," Mrs Turner said, noting the increases in Auckland and Wellington.
Otago consents for May rose from 138 a year ago, worth $48million, to 163 valued at $71million, with Queenstown boosted from 66 to 90 consents while Central Otago rose a more modest 28 to 32.
A tailing off in Canterbury’s rebuild was reflected in consents and values both declining, from 618 worth $208million a year ago to 477 worth $164million.
Statistics New Zealand’s prices, accommodation, and construction senior manager Jason Attewell said the 2039 stand-alone houses consented in May was the highest monthly number since June 2004.
"It’s more than double the level of the 2011 low point, and nearly back to the mid-2016 peak," Mr Attewell said in a statement.
For the year ended May, 30,645 new homes were consented with about one-third of those in Auckland, he said.
Westpac acting chief economist Michael Gordon said May’s rise was concentrated in Auckland, which in turn was driven by a rise in multiple-style construction of townhouses or terraced housing; albeit the pace was still not matching Auckland’s population growth.
South Island consents and values were flat for May, the volume declining from 829 consents to 769 and value up slightly from $279million to $282million. By comparison, the North Island saw consents leap from 1691 to 2021, with the value rising from $620million to $752million.
