KEY POINTS:
The value of residential building work fell 6.6 per cent in the March quarter.
The figures out today from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) follow a fall of 2 per cent in the December quarter, and highlight the impact economic slowdown is having on the property sector.
The figure takes into account price changes and seasonal fluctuations.
Non-residential building work fell 5.9 per cent in the March quarter, after rising 12 per cent in the December quarter.
Those changes were largely due to work on commercial buildings, SNZ said.
The value of all building work fell 6.3 per cent in the March quarter, following a rise of 3.1 per cent in the preceding three months.
The trend for residential building work had decreased for the latest two quarters, while for non-residential building work it increased for the latest three quarters, SNZ said.
The actual value of all building work was $3.08 billion in the March quarter, with 62 per cent from residential work and 38 per cent from non-residential work.
While Easter had the potential to affect the value of building work for the March quarter when it fell in March, as it had this year, it was not possible to quantify the impact, SNZ said.
- NZPA
