NZ value of building work put in place rises 2.8% in fourth quarter
The seasonally adjusted value of residential building work rose 2.8% in the fourth quarter.
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The value of residential building work put in place rose in the fourth quarter of 2015, led by Auckland while total building activity increased to its highest level since records began 26 years ago.
The seasonally adjusted value of residential building work rose 2.8% in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, Statistics NZ said. A 2.3% gain for non-residential building contributed to an overall 2.5% gain in building work.
Total building work beat market estimates of a 2% gain. In Auckland, the actual value of residential work in current prices surged 17% from the same quarter of 2014 to $982 million, while in Canterbury the value fell 7.1% to $642 million. The overall value for Canterbury actually rose 5.1% to $1.1 billion, however, reflecting the shift in focus in the earthquake rebuild to commercial work, with non-residential work up 27% to $492 million.
"With the trend in building consent volumes still sharply up, we expect the trend in building work at a national level to continue north for some time," said David Norman, an economist at Westpac Banking Corp. "The story of the residential component of Canterbury winding down is being reinforced by a decline of 0.5% in seasonally adjusted values in that region after weak growth in the two previous quarters."
Among other regions, the total value of building work rose 2.9% in Waikato and 0.7% in Wellington, and the rest of the North Island recorded a 6.4% gain, driven by increased work in the Bay of Plenty.
(BusinessDesk)
Jonathan Underhill
Thu, 03 Mar 2016
Thu, 03 Mar 2016
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NZ value of building work put in place rises 2.8% in fourth quarter
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