Unexpected rise in December quarter building activity
AUCKLAND: New Zealand’s building activity rose in the December quarter as work on nonresidential buildings drove volume growth and the stronger number may lead economists to revise up their economic growth forecasts for the quarter.
The volume of building work put in place increased a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in the three months ended December 31, versus a 0.8% lift in the September quarter, Stats NZ said.
The lift was driven by more nonresidential construction, including work on shopping malls and storage buildings, which was up 5%. This was the biggest quarterly increase in almost three years, it said.
‘‘Growth in commercial construction activity was driven by more work on shops and accom modation buildings, particularly in Auckland,’’ construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.
The volume of residential work rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2% from the September quarter. This was in line with the 1.3% growth in the September 2018 quarter.
ASB Bank said the data was ‘‘much stronger than we had anticipated’’ and the data — combined with a better than expected economic survey of manufacturing — meant it revised its preliminary fourth quarter GDP forecast to 0.4% quarteronquarter, versus a previous forecast of 0.2%.
The figures show building work values rose 8.2% to $6.08 billion in the December quarter from a year earlier. Of that, nonresidential work was up 10.5% at $2.18 billion and residential, including alterations and additions, rose 6.9% to $3.90 billion.
The figures show the annual value of new residential work of $12.32 billion was 6.4% higher than a year earlier, while alterations and additions were 7.8% higher at $2.46 billion.
Nonresidential work totalled $8.0 billion in the 12 months through September, of which $1.41 billion was spent on office, administration and public transport, and $1.34 billion on education.