WELLINGTON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The volume of building activity in New Zealand rose 2 percent in the June 2021 quarter, compared with the March 2021 quarter, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.

"The June quarter showed high levels of building activity volume, and follows a 4.1-percent increase in the March quarter," construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said in a statement.

Residential building activity drove the increase, rising 4.2 percent in the June 2021 quarter, while non-residential building activity fell 1.5 percent, Heslop said.

Between the March 2021 and June 2021 quarters, residential building costs rose by 4.3 percent, and non-residential building costs by 3.1 percent, statistics show.

The estimated volume of building work decreased in the March and June 2020 quarters due to COVID-19 alert level changes. Total building activity then bounced back in the September 2020 quarter, and residential work remains at historically high levels, Heslop said.

The estimated value of residential building activity in the June 2021 year was over 18 billion NZ dollars (12.86 billion U.S. dollars), up 21 percent from the June 2020 year, Stats NZ said.

For non-residential buildings in the June 2021 year the value was 8.9 billion NZ dollars (6.36 billion U.S. dollars), increasing by 3.6 percent from the June 2020 year, it said.

"Residential construction in the last 12 months has been strong, following historically high levels of new homes consented in recent quarters. The June 2021 year has also seen fewer direct impacts from COVID-19, with no alert-level 4 lockdowns like we saw in the June 2020 year," Heslop said.

The current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown in the largest city Auckland starting in August has not had an impact on the June 2021 quarter results. Impacts are expected in the September 2021 quarter. Under Alert Level 4, businesses, schools and construction sites are closed except for essential ones such as supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations.

The country has moved to a lockdown since midnight Aug. 17, after the first COVID-19 Delta variant case in the Auckland community was identified. Other parts of New Zealand except Auckland relaxed restrictions a bit last week. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)