Higher Building Prices Drive Up CGPI

Embargoed until 10:45am – 14 November 2006

Higher Building Prices Drive Up CGPI

The Capital Goods Price Index (CGPI) rose 1.3 percent in the September 2006 quarter, the fourteenth consecutive quarterly rise in the CGPI, Statistics New Zealand said today. All six asset groups in the CGPI recorded increases in the September 2006 quarter.

The residential buildings index rose 1.7 percent in the September 2006 quarter, making the most significant upward contribution to the CGPI for the twentieth consecutive quarter. The increase in the residential buildings index in the September 2006 quarter was mainly driven by the construction of new houses. In the year to the September 2006 quarter, the index rose 5.7 percent.

The second most significant contribution to the CGPI was the non-residential buildings index, which rose 1.9 percent in the September 2006 quarter. The main drivers for the price increases in the September 2006 quarter were higher construction services costs for commercial buildings. In the year to the September 2006 quarter, the non-residential buildings index rose 6.0 percent.

Annually, in the year to the September 2006 quarter, the CGPI rose 4.0 percent, the highest annual increase since the September 2004 quarter. This follows a rise of 3.0 percent in the year to the September 2005 quarter.

Brian Pink
Government Statistician

ENDS

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