Auckland building consent numbers hit a record in the year to August – but we're still only building the sorts of numbers seen in the 1970s, when the city's population was about 700,000.

There were 12,959 homes consented to be built in the city in the 12 months to August – just slightly more than a previous peak of June 2004 and another in the mid-1970s.

"The 2004 peak in Auckland homes consented was mainly driven by growth in the number of apartments. This new record is also driven by townhouses, flats, and units; and retirement village units," construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

"While the number of homes consented in the last 12 months was similar to the previous peaks in 1974 and 2004, Auckland's population has increased significantly over that time."

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Auckland now has a population of 1.6 million.

MIKE BAIN/STUFF Nationwide, 32,759 consents for new homes were issued in the year, up 6.6 per cent but still below the February 1974 record of 40,025.

Economist Gareth Kiernan, of Infometrics, said population growth was a more important measure of demand for housing than population itself.

The early-to-mid 1970s were a period of strong growth as Baby Boomers left home for the first time, he said.

"It's a reasonably comparable population growth rate."

But at that stage, the building rate would have kept up with demand or even exceeded it at the peak, buoyed by government policies that incentivised construction of relatively cheap housing.

Kiernan said the modern construction sector still needed to produce more houses. While population growth might have slowed this year, it had not plummeted.

"We are roughly at the build rate we need to keep up with population growth now, not taking into account other factors that might add to underling demand but the clear message is that we are certainly not at the point where we are building enough to address the undersupply yet."

Of the 13 wards that make up the Auckland region, 11 consented more new homes in the August 2018 year compared with the August 2017 year.



Nationwide, 32,759 consents for new homes were issued in the year, up 6.6 per cent but still below the February 1974 record of 40,025.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF There were 12,959 homes consented to be built in the city in the 12 months to August – just slightly more than a previous peak of June 2004 and another in the mid-1970s.

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said there was usually a delay between consents being lodged and issued, which could mean the data did not provide the most up-to-date reflection of current economic conditions.

One Wellington investor who had lodged three building consent applications in the past three years said his architect said it was becoming harder and harder to get projects approved there. Those that would have been ticked off two or three years ago were hitting hurdles.

"Renovators are being asked to do a lot more to meet council rules than in the past, even though the code and district plan haven't changed."