KEY POINTS:
The value of total building work, with price changes removed, has continued an upward trend for a second quarter, following three quarters of decline.
Data out today from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) showed the value of all building work rose a seasonally adjusted 3.9 per cent in the March quarter, following a rise of 2.7 per cent in the December quarter.
After removing price changes, the March quarter showed a seasonally adjusted rise of 2.5 per cent, SNZ said.
The unadjusted value for building work in the March 2007 quarter was $3 billion, down $3 million or 0.1 per cent, from the March 2006 quarter. After removing price changes, the value was down 5 per cent over the year.
For the year ended March, the unadjusted value of all building work was $12.7 billion, up $26m or 0.2 per cent, from the previous March year.
Work on residential buildings rose $189m, while non-residential work fell $163m.
The trend for the value of all building work was rising after a lull last year. After removing price changes, the real level of building activity was a little below that of the 2005-2006 peak period, SNZ said.
For residential buildings, the seasonally adjusted value of work rose 0.4 per cent in the March quarter. Removing the impact of price changes, there was a seasonally adjusted fall of 0.9 per cent for the quarter.
The unadjusted value for residential building work put in place for the March quarter was $1.8b, up $51m or 2.9 per cent compared with a year earlier. Removing the impact of price changes, there was a 2.1 per cent decrease for the period.
For the year ended March, the unadjusted value of residential work put in place was up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier.
For non-residential building, the seasonally adjusted value of work put in place rose 7.1 per cent in the March quarter. Removing the impact of price changes, the rise was 6.6 per cent.
The unadjusted value for non-residential building work put in place in the March quarter was $1.2b, down $54m or 4.4 per cent compared with the March 2006 quarter. Removing price changes, the decline was 8.9 per cent.
For the year to March, the unadjusted value of non-residential building work put in place was down 3.1 per cent from the previous March year, SNZ said.
- NZPA
