The total number of building consents issued in New Zealand gained a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent on month in June, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,950.
That follows the 4.6 percent decline in May.
Excluding permits for apartment construction (which totaled 197), building consents were up 2.9 percent.
There were 1,753 consents issued for n0n-apartment dwellings.
"The trend for new dwellings has doubled since March 2011, but is still 26 percent below the series peak in January 2004," business indicators manager Neil Kelly said.
The trend for the number of new dwellings, excluding apartments, is at its highest level since November 2007, and is 88 percent higher than the most-recent low point in March 2011, the bureau said.
The unadjusted value of building work consented in June was NZ$1.262 billion, consisting of NZ$772 million in residential work and NZ$490 million of non-residential work (the second-highest ever value).
The regions that consented the most new dwellings were Canterbury with 623 (including 49 apartments) and Auckland with 553 (including 120 apartments).
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