It has been declare by the Statistics New Zealand today that number of consents for new buildings was issued for 1400 new dwelling units last month, of which 91 were apartments. Together with apartments, the seasonally accustomed number of new homes authorized last month was up 8.5 % from March. It had lifted just 0.1% in March.

The 15.5 % rise in the apartments-excluded figure in April followed a fall of 8.6 % in March. The 1400 new units were 38.8 % higher than a year earlier, and the 1309 units excluding apartments up 61.6 %.Residential building permitted last month was worth $480 million, 35 % higher than a year earlier.

The value of non-residential building consents was $327m, 38 % down on the figure for April 2009, which had the highest value on record and was boosted by development at Christchurch Airport. According to Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Philip Borkin, the April figures were a pleasant and encouraging surprise after having been disappointing recently.

A 13.2 % seasonally adjusted increase in the floor area of dwelling consents was steady with an ongoing recuperation in residential building, and was useful as a forward indicator for the level of real construction activity. That activity would also be shored up by revamp of leaky buildings, which would not necessarily be represented in consent data.

"It is quite possible that more certainty leads to a small release in pent-up demand in housing activity," Mr. Borkin said. However, with the growth of house price expected to be submissive and interest rate boosts on the way.