Building slump accelerating, say new figures

The slump in house building continued for a fifth consecutive quarter in the three months to December and the decline is accelerating, new Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures show.

In the latest quarter the volume of residential building work fell 13.4 percent, the largest fall in eight years.

The volume was now 32.5 percent lower than in the September 2007 quarter, the last time it rose, SNZ said today.

Residential building work put in place in the quarter was the lowest since March 2002.

The trend indicated the rate of decline in the volume of residential building work was increasing, having fallen by nearly a third in the latest five quarters, SNZ said.

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Posted: 9 Mar 2009

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