Residential construction has levelled off as much as commercial construction has slumped in the Queenstown Lakes district, the Registered Master Builders Federation (RMBF) says.
Chief executive Warwick Quinn, of Wellington, referred to new figures from Statistics New Zealand which supported what RMBF has predicted for months - the small recovery in the residential construction sector which occurred in late 2009 and earlier this year had stalled and levelled off.
Statistics NZ showed 30 new dwelling units were authorised in the district in July, down from 37 in June. There were 41 new dwellings in April, but the numbers each month hovered in the 20s and 30s back to a peak of 85 in October 2009, before dropping down again to the early 20s in July last year.
Mr Quinn said on Friday the residential construction sector was experiencing a healthier recovery in the main centres of New Zealand.
"There's a sense the South Island's regional areas are still finding it quite tough, with not a huge amount of work on. It was slower to go into the recession and it may take longer to come out.
"We're not through the worst of it. We've got a hard 18 months ahead before we start to see a slight improvement."
Queenstown tended to be a more volatile residential building market than other centres, as it was heavily influenced by overseas investment and tourist dollars, Mr Quinn said.
Demand for the construction of homes was a sub-set of the wider property market, which was affected by how comfortable potential buyers felt in their employment long-term, the cost of money in terms of interest rates and how much banks were willing to lend.
In 2003 and 2004, RMBF members nationwide worked on 30,000 to 35,000 "new starts" and were booked ahead for 18 months, Mr Quinn said. However, in the past 12 months members were now working on 12,500 new homes nationwide and maybe had one new house in front of them each.
Mr Quinn was asked to comment on the state of the residential construction sector in the resort, following the appeal by Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chairman Alastair Porter for the Queenstown Lakes District Council to act as a catalyst for commercial development, in the public forum of the utilities committee last week.
Mr Porter called for the council to designate the missing section in the Eastern Access Road (EAR), on Frankton Flats, which would link State Highway 6 with Remarkables Park Town Centre.
Designation would encourage confidence in developers interested in the constructing the second stage of Remarkables Park Town Centre. The town centre could not develop it unless it had roads, Mr Porter said.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) wanted contributions from developers for the access road, but the proposed "long overdue" roundabout intersection between it and State Highway were not happening because there was no funding from development, Mr Porter said.
"Substantial sales" were occurring in the second stage development and interested parties were keen for development to begin.
At the utilities committee meeting, transport manager Denis Mander said he was in contact with Five Mile developers about the road. The section from the proposed State Highway 6 roundabout to the proposed smaller roundabout and on to Glenda Dr was covered by a notice of requirement issued last year.
Construction of the notice's section was expected to begin this financial year, before the Rugby World Cup, Mr Mander said.
Plan Change 19 Frankton Flats would give "certainty of route, but not the timing of construction". He understood the Environment Court hearing about the plan change was likely to be in November.
Designation now was an option, but the issue was "financial responsibility", Mr Mander said.
Council did not have funding in its long-term plan for the construction of the access road.
It would cost an estimated $4 million to construct and NZTA would ask how were the beneficiaries of the road going to contribute, he said.
Chairman John Mann asked Mr Mander to report back with a briefing paper on the issues for the new utilities committee after the election.
