Building consents for new houses hit a five-year high last month, with rises across most areas of the country, Statistics New Zealand said today. There were 1,755 new houses, including apartments, consented in April 2013. This was the highest number since April 2008, when 2,373 were consented, including 771 apartments. “April was a bumper month for building consents for new houses across the country. While the numbers were higher in Canterbury and Auckland this month, compared with April 2012, the rest of the country also made a significant contribution to the increase,” industry and labour statistics manager Blair ... (full story)