More than 10,000 townhouses, flats, and units consented in the last year

It is the first time consents for these properties had topped 10,000 since records began in the early 1990s, Stats NZ said.

The total number of new dwellings consented was 37,467 in the year to the end of August, about 5 percent higher than the previous year.

Auckland had the most consented during that period, at 14,897 homes, while growth in consents was highest in Canterbury, up 8.8 percent to 5653 dwellings.

"The strong consent numbers for new homes in recent months means that there is a relatively large amount of residential building work planned for the future," Stats NZ acting construction indicators manager Dave Adair said.

Work is usually finished within a year or two of consents being issued but at present many projects are experiencing significant delays due to Covid-19, he said.

By region, the numbers of new dwellings consented in the year ended August 2020 (compared with the August 2019 year) were:

• 14,879 in Auckland - up 3.7 percent
• 4105 in Waikato - up 1.4 percent
• 3163 in Wellington - up 15 percent
• 5925 in rest of North Island - up 3.9 percent
• 5653 in Canterbury - up 8.8 percent
• 3739 in rest of South Island - up 3.5 percent.