Latest figures show a rise in building consents. Permits issued for houses and apartments rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% to 1735 in August compared with the previous month.
Excluding volatile apartment numbers, new dwelling consents rose 0.8%.
But Statistics New Zealand says the rate of growth is flattening.
Excluding apartment numbers, the agency says consents have been flat since April and the trend is still a third below its peak in September 2003.
Economists say housing is underpinned by low interest rates, and robust demand in Auckland and Canterbury.
They expect rising building costs to spill over into wider inflation pressures, and prompt the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates next year.
