New Zealand residential consent falls in November, residential building activity to pick up in 2019

New Zealand residential consent issuance dropped in November. Following a rise of 1.4 percent in the prior month, residential dwelling consent issuance dropped 2 percent.

The fall in consents was concentrated in the multiple dwelling component, and was most pronounced in Auckland. Dwelling consents in Auckland have surged in the past year but retreated in November.

Given how volatile consents for multiple dwellings could be, this one-month fall is of little concern, noted Westpac in a research report. On a year-on-year basis, consents are still up 5.3 percent.

“We continue to expect a pickup in residential building activity during 2019, although beyond that we expect construction sector growth to tail off”, added Westpac.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of New Zealand Dollar was bullish at 93.5443, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was bearish at -77.4797. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex