WELLINGTON, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand saw 33,632 new homes consented in the year ending in August 2024, down 20 percent compared with the year ending in August 2023, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Tuesday.

Among them, there were 15,597 stand-alone houses consented, down 9.7 percent, it said, adding there were 18,035 multi-unit homes consented, down 27 percent, the lowest in the last three years.

Multi-unit homes include townhouses, apartments, retirement village units and flats, Stats NZ construction and property statistics manager Michael Heslop said, adding the number of apartments consented in the year ending in August 2024 was down 55 percent year-on-year, the lowest in 10 years.

The decreased number of homes consented is bad news for New Zealand's construction industry, with many companies having to close and around 8,000 fewer people employed in the sector since last November.

The construction sector, as a crucial part of the New Zealand economy, contributed 99 billion NZ dollars (62.83 billion U.S. dollars) in sales in 2023 and indirectly supported 20 percent of all jobs in New Zealand, government statistics showed.

The government has been working to make it easier and more affordable to build, focusing on streamlining the building consent system and removing unjustifiable red tape that is slowing down the build process, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said in August. Enditem

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