Housing consent statistics give more evidence that Christchurch is entering a new phase of regeneration.

There was a major residential boom after the Canterbury quakes, where the region saw consents more than double between December 2011 and the end of 2014.

Since then there's been a steady decrease in the number of consents given - as Christchurch's residential rebuild reaches its end.

Industry experts suggest the city's rebuild has made a switch from residential to commercial.

As at August last year, the total value of construction activity in the city sat at around $1.6 billion dollars, with nearly 500 commercial building consents granted.