Our take on the latest Building work put in place (Wed 5 Dec 2018)
Non-residential construction
Social, cultural, and religious construction
Canterbury residential construction
Unchanged from June (seasonally adjusted)
34%pa in September
-14%pa in September
The key numbers...
- Auckland continues to underperform expectations, highlighting the capacity constraints in the region limiting growth.
- Positive growth in non-residential construction in Canterbury is likely to be short lived, as a slight upward blip was expected but is forecast to be followed by further declines.
- Around the rest of the country, non-residential activity is expected to pick up by 2020, although capacity constraints could lead to more moderate growth over a longer period.
Work put in place
Annual % changes, Sept 1999 prices
...and our reaction
- Residential construction in the September quarter recorded its slowest annual growth since March 2012, at 0.8%pa.
- Auckland performed below forecast in both the residential and non-residential construction sectors, with growth rates of 16%pa and 11%pa respectively in the September quarter.
- Work put in place in both Wellington and Waikato fell from the previous year, down 21%pa and 5.0%pa respectively. Both of these performances were significantly worse than anticipated.
- In the non-residential construction sector, shops, factories, and offices all performed worse than expected, with annual changes of 18%, 14%, and -15% respectively.
- Annual growth in non-residential work put in place in Canterbury was positive, at 4.0%pa, for the first time since March 2017.
Latest updates
Premium
Building work put in place
Construction activity at a 10-year low
Thu 4 Jun 2026
Quarterly
13% Non-residential activity in March 2026 from March 2025
3.9% Residential activity from March 2025
Total building activity at its lowest level (excl lockdowns) since 2015Premium
Building work put in place
Non-residential work hammered as residential softens further
Thu 5 Mar 2026
Quarterly
6.5% Non-residential activity from September 2025 (sa)1.1% Residential activity from September 2025 (sa)Total building activity at its lowest level (excl lockdowns) since 2015Building work put in place
Non-residential activity continues to decline
Thu 4 Dec 2025
Quarterly
Residential volumes up 3.3% in September from June 2025 (sa)Non-residential volumes down 1.3% in September from June 2025 (sa)Total quarterly activity now down 5.3% from September 2024Building work put in place
Lower residential activity leads construction decline
Thu 4 Sept 2025
Quarterly
Residential volumes down 2.9% in June from March 2025 (sa)Non-residential volumes down 0.4% in June from March 2025 (sa)Total quarterly activity now down 9.6% from June 2024