Residential building activity grows on strong foundations

Residential building activity grows on strong foundations

15 December 2016

The volume of residential building work rose 2.4 percent in the September 2016 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This rise followed 5.7 and 5.6 percent increases in the June and March quarters, respectively.

"Residential building activity was up again in the latest quarter, on top of solid increases in the previous two quarters," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.

Non-residential building activity had also lifted in the March and June quarters, but its volume was unchanged in September. Overall building activity grew 1.4 percent.

The volume trend for residential building work has doubled over the five years since the low point in the September 2011 quarter.

Value of all building work tops $5 billion in the September 2016 quarter

The actual value of building work topped $5 billion for the first time in the latest quarter, with $3.3 billion of residential work and $1.9 million of non-residential work. Compared with the same quarter in 2015, all regional groupings except Canterbury had large increases:
• Auckland – up 32 percent
• Rest of North Island, rest of South Island, and Waikato – each up 27 percent
• Wellington – up 21 percent
• Canterbury – up 4.3 percent.

In Auckland, the trend for residential building activity continued to grow strongly, while it has flattened in Canterbury.

Delay to the release

Due to the 14 November earthquake, we delayed this release from its scheduled release date of 2 December 2016. The delay ensures the information is produced to its usual level of quality.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit Value of Building Put in Place: September 2016 quarter

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