New Zealand Q4 Building Activity Climbs 1.9%

(RTTNews) - The volume of all building activity in New Zealand jumped a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

That topped forecasts for an increase of 1.5 percent and was up from 1.4 percent in the previous three months.

Residential building activity was up 1.1 percent, while non-residential building activity advanced 3.0 percent.

"Residential building activity volume growth was a bit slower than in recent quarters. While values rose in most regions, they were partly offset by a fall in Canterbury," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.

The volume trend for all building work has grown 73 percent since the most recent low point in the September 2011 quarter. It is also 19 percent higher than the series high in the June 2005 quarter.

The actual value of all building work was up 3.5 percent to NZ$5.3 billion - NZ$3.4 billion on residential buildings and NZ$1.9 billion on non-residential buildings.

The regions with the highest total values were Auckland (NZ$2.0 billion) and Canterbury (NZ$1.1 billion).

"In Auckland, the actual value of building work was almost $2 billion in the December 2016 quarter, including $1 billion worth of work on new homes," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.