Building activity increases following historic low

Building activity increased 2.9 percent in the December 2011 quarter, following the previous quarter's 10-year low, Statistics New Zealand said today. This increase was led by residential building activity (up 4.4 percent, after adjusting for price and seasonal effects), and building work in Canterbury also appeared to boost the figures.

"In Canterbury, there appeared to be a greater increase in building activity than in the rest of New Zealand," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "This was true for both residential and non-residential building." The Canterbury movements described are only an indication of the effect of  the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, as this survey is designed for accuracy at the national level, not regionally.

The trend for residential building activity showed a rise in the latest quarter, up from the previous quarter's 18-year low.

After adjusting for price and seasonal effects, non-residential building activity increased 1.4 percent in the December 2011 quarter. This followed decreases over the three previous quarters. The increase did not change the direction of the trend, which fell to its lowest level in nearly eight years, but it appeared to slow the rate of decline. 

In 2011, compared with 2010, the unadjusted value of New Zealand's building activity fell, as follows:

• all building work fell $1,141 million (10 percent)
• residential building work fell $865 million (14 percent)
• non-residential building work fell $276 million (5.7 percent).

Data on building activity is obtained each quarter, primarily by a postal survey of around 3,000 builders, owners, and other building consent applicants.