Building activity has plummeted to its lowest level in 10 years, dragged down by a drop in residential building, latest figures show.
This comes just seven months after the number of building consents sank to a nine-year low, on a fall in the construction of new homes.
Statistics New Zealand figures show the amount of all building work fell 6.6 per cent in the June 2011 quarter, led by a decrease of 12 per cent in residential building activity.
Residential building activity has now fallen 24 per cent in the latest year to its lowest level in 18 years, Statistics New Zealand said.
Non-residential building activity fell slightly in the June quarter, down 1.4 percent, following a 10 per cent fall in the previous quarter.
"It looks as though Canterbury actually performed slightly better than the rest of the country in the June quarter,'' Statistics New Zealand's industry and labour statistics manager Kathy Connolly said.
"It seems that residential building work in Canterbury fell by slightly less than in the rest of the country, while non-residential building work appears to have risen.''
- Herald Online
