New Zealand's seasonally adjusted new dwellings consents rose 11% to 3,802 in April from 3,429 in the previous month, according to Stats NZ data on Wednesday.
In actual terms, 3,692 new dwellings were consented, including 1,604 stand-alone houses, 1,530 townhouses, flats, and units, 499 apartments, and 59 retirement village units.
New dwellings consented in the reported month rose nearly 53% in actual terms compared with 2,418 in April 2025.
In the 12 months ended April, the actual number of new dwellings consented was up 16% to 39,087 compared with the prior corresponding period.
"More than half of the annual growth came from multi-unit homes, such as apartments, townhouses, flats, and retirement village units," economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.
The regions with the highest increase in new home consents in the year ended April were Auckland, up 21%, Waikato, up 6.3%, and Wellington, up 13%.
The annual value of non-residential building work consented in April edged down 0.4% year-on-year to NZ$8.9 billion.