The number of new building consents has fallen.
Nick Smith said the rate of house building in Auckland has effectively doubled over the last year. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Official figures show consents slipped a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent in April, due to a fall in the number of permits for new homes.
Despite that, the number of consents for apartments soared to a seven-year high of 467, nearly all of which were for Auckland.
Housing Minister Nick Smith said the numbers were encouraging.
"They show Auckland has got over the 8000 mark per year, over 900 for the month, we bottomed out about three years ago at 4000, so effectively over the last year we've doubled the rate of house building in Auckland."
Dr Smith said he would still like to see the number of consents in Auckland rise further, to about 12,000 a year.
ASB economist Jane Turner said supply in the country's biggest city was still failing to keep up with demand growth.
"Apartments do tend to be fairly lumpy month-to-month, what we have seen is other components of Auckland dwelling consents turning down in April," she said.
Auckland and Canterbury accounted for 63 percent of the number of consents issued nationwide.
Statistics New Zealand said the overall level of consents was sitting at the historical average.
It said the growth in consents was easing, and the number granted actually fell between March and April.
