New Zealand's fourth-quarter Building Permits saw a decline in the seasonally-adjusted QoQ figure compared tp September, sliding 3.4% and adding additional downside to the previous quarter's 13% decline.

New Zealand new homes consents in December 2023 dropped steeply, falling 25% YoY compared to December of 2022, with standalone housing units specifically declining to its slowest pace of approvals since 2013, and multi-family homes also declined to their slowest pace of approvals since 2021.

According to StatsNZ's construction and property statistics manager, Michael Heslop:

“The number of homes consented in 2023 was down from 49,538 in 2022, which was the highest number in a calendar year since records began."

“2023 was the first year that the number of townhouses, flats, and units consented exceeded the number of stand-alone houses."