Decrease in building work

The value of residential building work put in place fell 6.6 percent in the March 2008 quarter (after removal of price changes and seasonal fluctuation), Statistics New Zealand said today.

This follows a fall of 2.0 percent in the December 2007 quarter.

Non-residential building work fell 5.9 percent in the March 2008 quarter, following a rise of 12 percent in the December 2007 quarter. These changes are largely due to work on commercial buildings.

The value of all building work put in place fell 6.3 percent in the March 2008 quarter, following a rise of 3.1 percent in the December 2007 quarter.

The trend for residential building work has decreased for the latest two quarters, while for non-residential building work the trend has increased for the latest three quarters.

The actual value of all building work was $3,082 million in the March 2008 quarter, with residential and non- residential building work contributing 62 percent and 38 percent of this value, respectively