Bracen Building Report · 12 months to June 2026
New dwellings consented up 19.4% in the year to June 2026
40,581 new homes were consented across New Zealand in the 12 months to June 2026. That is 6,602 more than the year before, and the clearest sign yet that the construction recovery is broadening.
40,581
new dwellings consented
+19.4%
vs prior 12 months
13 of 16
regions growing
The national picture
The 12-month total has climbed from 33,979 to 40,581. Growth is no longer a Canterbury story alone: thirteen of sixteen regions consented more dwellings than they did a year earlier. The total is still below the 2022 peak, and the most recent month was soft, with seasonally adjusted consents falling 3.6 percent in June after a 4.9 percent fall in May. The recovery is real. It is not a straight line.
Where the growth actually is
| Region | 12m to Jun 25 | 12m to Jun 26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northland | 753 | 799 | +6.1% |
| Auckland | 14,295 | 17,097 | +19.6% |
| Waikato | 2,800 | 3,205 | +14.5% |
| Bay of Plenty | 1,472 | 1,700 | +15.5% |
| Gisborne | 143 | 227 | +58.7% |
| Hawke's Bay | 657 | 738 | +12.3% |
| Taranaki | 470 | 449 | -4.5% |
| Manawatu-Whanganui | 1,086 | 1,065 | -1.9% |
| Wellington | 1,889 | 2,217 | +17.4% |
| Tasman | 301 | 315 | +4.7% |
| Nelson | 240 | 324 | +35.0% |
| Marlborough | 191 | 206 | +7.9% |
| West Coast | 203 | 166 | -18.2% |
| Canterbury | 6,499 | 8,647 | +33.1% |
| Otago | 2,637 | 2,982 | +13.1% |
| Southland | 342 | 444 | +29.8% |
Canterbury is doing the heavy lifting: 8,647 consents, up 33.1 percent. The South Island as a whole grew 25.7 percent against the North Island's 16.7.
Auckland consented 17,097 new dwellings, up 19.6 percent. That is 42 percent of every new home consented in the country.
Three regions are still going backwards: West Coast (down 18.2 percent), Taranaki (down 4.5 percent) and Manawatu-Whanganui (down 1.9 percent).
What this means if you run a building company
- 01
Consents lead starts. A dwelling consented today is a build starting in the next six to twelve months. The work is coming. The question is whether your pipeline, pricing and crew plan are set up before it lands.
- 02
Growth clusters. If you build in Canterbury, Nelson, Southland or Gisborne, the wave is already on you. If you build in Taranaki, Manawatu-Whanganui or the West Coast, this is a market-share game, not a rising-tide game, and your marketing has to work harder than your competitors' does.
- 03
Homeowners read these headlines too. Confidence is coming back into the market, and enquiry follows confidence. The builders who answer fast and follow up properly will take a disproportionate share of it.
- 04
Do not read one soft month as the trend. June fell on a seasonally adjusted basis. The 12-month picture is what matters for planning, and it has now grown for a full year.
Methodology
Source: Stats NZ, Building consents issued: June 2026. Series: dwelling units, new, number, actual. Figures are 12-month rolling totals computed by Bracen directly from the public data release. Nothing here is quoted second-hand. Regional figures are actual counts and are not seasonally adjusted.
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