NZ 2Q building activity rises 0.8% on Canterbury work

NZ building activity rises 0.8% on construction in Canterbury

By Hannah Lynch

Sept. 5 (BusinessDesk) - Residential building in Canterbury helped lift New Zealand's national building activity in the June quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.

New Zealand's building activity rose 0.8 percent to $1,703 million in the second quarter, the government statistician said in a statement. The overall trend for building activity continues to rise from the 10-year low point in the September 2011 quarter.

Residential building activity increased 7.1 percent to $907 million, offsetting a 5.6 percent fall in non-residential activity to $797 million.

"Seasonally adjusted and trend indicators for Canterbury point to a strong increase in residential building as people start to repair and rebuild their homes following the earthquakes," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "Residential activity for the rest of New Zealand also rose, but not to the same extent as Canterbury."

The unadjusted value of residential building work rose 14.1 percent to $1,479 million, compared to a year earlier.

(BusinessDesk)

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