Volume of building activity up

The September 2022 quarter saw the volume of building activity rise by nearly 5% compared with the previous quarter

An increase in residential and non-residential building activity contributed to a 3.8% rise in the volume of building activity for the final full quarter of the year.

Non-residential building activity experienced the largest increase compared to the June 2022 quarter (+4.9%), with residential building activity (+3.1%) not far behind.

“In the September 2022 quarter, building activity increased across the majority of building types and regions,” said Construction and Property Statistics Manager Michael Heslop.

Volume and value increase

The actual value of building work grew by 34% to $9.3bn compared to the September 2021 quarter. Residential work accounted for $6.4bn, while non-residential work made up $2.9bn.

Auckland accounted for the greatest value of work in the September 2022 quarter ($3.6bn; a 37% increase compared to the September 2021 quarter), followed by Waikato ($942m; + 34%) and Wellington ($893m; +39%).

Down south, the actual value of total building work passed the billion mark in Canterbury ($1.3bn; +34%). The rest of the South Island’s building work came to a total value of $983m, an increase
of 38%.

Meanwhile, the total value of building work hit $33bn in the year ended September 2022 – a 20% increase compared with the previous year. The value of building work includes building work done and cost increases.

“The past 12 months have seen costs rise substantially for both residential and non-residential buildings, which has been reflected in the value of building work increase,” Heslop said.

“In this time, residential building costs rose 15%, while non-residential building costs rose 11%.”

Non-residential building consents increase

In the year ended September 2022, non-residential building consents totalled $6.3bn. The building types with the highest value were:

• Education buildings – $1.7bn (up 17% compared to the year ended September 2021).
• Offices, administration and public transport buildings – $1.6bn (up 43%).
• Storage buildings – $1.5bn (up 35%).