There were 34,062 new homes consented in Aotearoa New Zealand in the year ended March 2025, down 3.3% compared with the year ended March 2024, according to new figures released by Stats NZ.
In the year ended March 2025, the North Island recorded 23,570 new home consents, a decrease of 7.1% compared with the year ended March 2024. Yet the South Island saw a 6.4% increase over the same period, reaching 10,491 new homes consented.
Economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said the increase in the South Island was driven by higher numbers of new homes consented in Otago, Tasman, and Canterbury compared with the same period last year. Take Queenstown as a prime example, a booming southern town now home to some of New Zealand’s richest.
“In the 12 months to March 2025, 2,556 new homes were consented in Otago – the highest number ever recorded for the region.”
Internal migration plays a quieter but still meaningful role in reshaping our housing landscape. Affordability, lifestyle, and remote working opportunities continue to lure North Islanders south; Kiwis in general are moving from larger, more expensive urban areas to quieter, more affordable towns.
Domestic outflows can put pressure on regional infrastructure, schools, and healthcare systems not originally designed to support rapid growth. Yet commercial and residential construction remains in decline.
In February, Michelle Feyen remarked that the annual number of new homes consented has been plateauing for nine months. Residential property values echo this standstill.
“Residential property values continue to bubble up and down slightly from month to month but have been kept virtually motionless as a whole throughout the first quarter of 2025,” QV operations manager James Wilson said on the release of the latest House Price Index.
“Although interest rates have reduced markedly, buyers are still finding the current economic climate to be a challenge. Job worries and a rise in unemployment are causing many to be cautious
and play it safe right now, which is understandable. This is one factor that has helped to keep the brakes on throughout the first quarter of 2025 – a sizeable surplus of properties for sale is another.
“It seems sellers are out in force across Aotearoa today. You don’t have to walk very far around the neighbourhood these days to see a ‘for sale’ sign. Ample properties for sale and a lack of meaningful competition are helping keep prices really flat for now. That’s no bad thing, as first-home buyers continue to make up a larger share of the market overall.”
“When the economy does eventually recover and all the excess stock that is available for sale on the market today is sold, that’s when we will see some more sustained home value growth. It could be a while yet.”
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