Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for Building and Construction

6 August 2017 Media Statement
Construction peak to be higher, last for longer

Residential, commercial and infrastructure building activity is forecast to continue to boom for the next three years to a record $42 billion in 2020, according to the independent National Construction Pipeline Report for 2017 released today by Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith.

“The principle answer to New Zealand’s housing challenges is to build more and this report shows we are on track with record numbers of new homes in the pipeline. The report projects 196,500 homes will be built over the next six years, the largest ever in New Zealand history, with 100,000 over the next three years,” Dr Smith says.

“I am particularly encouraged that this report shows even stronger growth than last year’s report. The peak has increased from 30,000 per year to 34,500 per year and 12,000 more homes being consented over the next three years. It shows a far wider spread of new home construction to the regions rather than Auckland and Christchurch.

“This report is welcome news for the issues of housing shortages, affordability and ownership because increased supply is the main solution. This growing pipeline and forecast of record numbers of homes being built shows the Government’s programme of reforms of Special Housing Areas, the Crown Land Programme, KiwiSaver HomeStart, resource management changes and the Housing Infrastructure Fund is working.”

The National Construction Pipeline Report provides six-year national and regional forecasts of residential, non-residential and infrastructure activity. The report is produced independently by BRANZ and Pacifecon to help the industry in planning and recruitment. The comparison of actuals with previous forecasts has proved to be accurate. Total actual activity was slightly higher than forecast, residential above forecast and non-residential and infrastructure slightly less.

“The scale of the total construction boom covering residential, non-residential and infrastructure work is now forecast to total $244b over the next six years. It grew 8 per cent to $34b in 2016 and is now forecast to grow another 23 per cent to an overall peak of $42b in 2020. This peak is $5b higher than the 2016 forecast.

“This report confirms New Zealand is experiencing its strongest ever building boom with high levels of confidence driving investment in housing, non-residential and infrastructure. The value of these reliable construction forecast reports is that they help the construction and building products industry manage procurement, help manage investment from Government and industry into training and contribute to productivity improvements in the sector.”

The National Construction Pipeline Report 2016 is available at:http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/building-construction/skills-innovation-productivity/national-construction-pipeline/

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