Value of Building Work Put in Place: June 2008 quarter

Residential buildings

The seasonally adjusted volume of residential building work fell 7.3 percent in value in the June 2008 quarter. Each of the three quarters since September 2007 has recorded decreases. 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.

Easter has the potential to affect the volume of building work put in place for the June quarter when it falls in March (rather than April), as it has in 2008. However, it is not possible to quantify the impact of this.

The trend indicates the volume of residential building work has decreased by 15.3 percent over the latest three quarters, following a period of increases from the September 2006 quarter.

Construction prices for residential buildings, as measured by the Capital Goods Price Index: June 2008 quarter Hot Off The Press, rose 0.8 percent for the June 2008 quarter compared with the previous quarter.

Seasonally adjusted residential building work in current prices fell 6.6 percent in the June 2008 quarter. This follows falls of 5.9 percent in the March 2008 quarter and 1.0 percent in the December 2007 quarter.

The trend, in current prices, for residential building work put in place has also decreased over the latest three quarters following a period of increases from the September 2006 quarter.

Consent values for dwellings excluding apartment units continue to show a declining trend since the month of June 2007, as seen in the Building Consents Issued: July 2008 Hot Off The Press release.

For the year ended June 2008, the unadjusted value of residential building work put in place was $8,425 million, up 5.6 percent from the previous June year. New dwellings contributed 83.1 percent of this value, while alterations, additions and outbuildings contributed the remaining 16.9 percent.

Non-residential buildings

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

The trend indicates that the volume of non-residential building work has declined for the March and June 2008 quarters. The March quarter recorded a decrease of 1.4 percent while the June quarter recorded a decrease of 5.2 percent. The two quarters prior to this period recorded increases.

Construction prices for non-residential buildings, as measured by the Capital Goods Price Index, rose 0.6 percent in the June 2008 quarter.

The seasonally adjusted value of non-residential building work in current prices fell 3.2 percent in the June 2008 quarter, following a fall of 4.7 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

For the year ended June 2008, the unadjusted value of non-residential building work put in place was $5,067 million, up 2.4 percent from the previous June year. The largest contributor to this increase was a 14.6 percent increase in the value of commercial buildings.

All buildings

The seasonally adjusted volume of all building work fell 5.8 percent in value in the June 2008 quarter, after falling 6.5 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

---PDF BREAK---

The trend indicates that the volume of total building work fell 6.6 percent in the June 2008 quarter, following a fall of 4.4 percent in the March 2008 quarter. The trend for residential building work has been declining for the latest three quarters, while for non-residential building work the trend has been declining for the latest two quarters.

The seasonally adjusted value of all building work in current prices fell 5.3 percent in the June 2008 quarter following a fall of 5.5 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

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.

The number of paid hours in the construction industry, as shown in the Quarterly Employment Survey: June 2008 quarter Hot Off The Press, rose 1.2 percent for the June 2008 quarter, compared with the June 2007 quarter. The June 2008 quarter fell 3.5 percent when compared with the March 2008 quarter.

Sampling errors

Estimates for the value of building work put in place are derived from a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling errors. The sampling errors for the June 2008 quarter are:

Non-response imputation

For building projects where no survey response is received, Statistics New Zealand imputes values for work put in place, based on responses for comparable projects. The values imputed for the June 2008 quarter are:

Excluded consents

Consents valued below $5,000 are excluded from statistics for the value of building work put in place. The value of excluded consents is estimated to be less than 1 percent of published values.

Low-value consents

These comprise residential building consents valued from $5,000 up to $35,000, and non-residential building consents valued from $5,000 up to $70,000. For these consents, it is assumed that:

• the consent value represents the value of work put in place
• consented work will be done during the month following the issuing of the consent.

Low-value jobs are therefore valued directly from consents (after a one-month lag), rather than by postal survey. Values included for the June 2008 quarter are:

---PDF BREAK---

For technical information, contact:
Bill Humphrey or Tehseen Islam
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz

Next release ...

 Value of Building Work Put in Place: September 2008 quarter will be released
on 8 December 2008.