Building Work Put in Place: December 1999 quarter

Building Work Put in Place: December 1999 quarter

Value of Building Work Put in Place: December 1999 quarter

Construction Going Up

The seasonally adjusted value of building work put in place in the December 1999 quarter was 6.1 per cent higher than in the previous quarter. Statistics New Zealand says it was the highest quarterly total of 1999. Both residential and non-residential work put in place recorded the highest quarterly totals for the year. The actual value of work put in place in the December 1999 quarter was $1,930.7 million, $254.9 million more than in the December 1998 quarter.

The seasonally adjusted non-residential building work put in place increased 12.7 per cent from the last quarter. Commercial buildings contributed the most to the non-residential total with $220.1 million, the highest quarterly total for this building type since September 1996. Work put in place on shopping centres and office blocks is driving the high total for commercial buildings. Factories and industrial buildings recorded the highest total for that building type since December 1997, with $91 million. The underlying trend for non-residential buildings is increasing for the second quarter following a steep decline at the beginning of the year. However, the actual level of non-residential building work put in place in the December 1999 quarter is 2.1 per cent lower than it was in the December 1998 quarter.

The total value of residential building work put in place in the December quarter was $1,186.4 million, up $271.1 million compared with the same quarter in the previous year. When the figure has been seasonally adjusted the December result is 2.2 per cent higher than in the September 1999 quarter. A large number of apartment building projects are influencing the residential work-put-in-place series, which is supported by consistent figures in the building consents issued series for residential and apartment buildings. The underlying trend for residential buildings has increased for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Ian Ewing Deputy Government Statistician
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