The number of building consents issued in Tauranga City in November 2012 is in line with a national increase.

A total of 78 consents were issued for residential buildings, with five consents issued for non-residential buildings.

The number of building consents issued in Tauranga City has increased compared to the previous year.

This is an increase on 2011, when 62 consents were issued for residential buildings and three non-residential buildings.

In 2012, a total of 665 residential building consents were issued for the Tauranga City area.

In the month of November, the number of building consents issued nationwide rose continuing a national trend for the past 20 months.

'Since the latest low point in March 2011, we have seen continuous steady growth in the trend for the number of new houses consented,” says industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno.

'The trend for new houses, including apartments, has climbed 45 per cent over the 20 months to November 2012.”

Blair says excluding apartments, the trend for new houses is up by 41 per cent since March 2011.

Housing consent numbers for November 2012, compared with November 2011, were:

*1,658 new houses, including apartments (up 20 per cent)

*1,619 new houses, excluding apartments (up 27 per cent)

*39 new apartments (down from 109).

Canterbury led the increase in the number of new houses in November 2012, up 171 from a year ago.

Blair says earthquake-related building consents in Canterbury totalled $59million in November 2012.

The region with the second-largest increase in the number of new houses consented was Otago, up 49.