Building work continues to decline

The seasonally adjusted volume of residential building work put in place fell 7.3 percent in the June 2008 quarter, the third consecutive fall, Statistics New Zealand said today. The volume of residential building work put in place is 15.6 percent lower in the June 2008 quarter than in the September 2007 quarter and is the lowest since the December 2002 quarter.

The seasonally adjusted volume of non-residential building work fell 3.6 percent in the June 2008 quarter, following a fall of 5.8 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

The seasonally adjusted volume of all building work put in place fell 5.8 percent in the June 2008 quarter, following a fall of 6.5 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

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

For the year ended June 2008, the unadjusted value of all building work put in place was $13,491 million, up 4.4 percent from the previous June year. Residential buildings contributed 62.4 percent of this value, and non-residential buildings contributed the remaining 37.6 percent.