Sharechat Logo

Home-building consents near 22-year low

Friday 29th August 2008

Text too small?
New Zealand home-building consents held near the lowest level in 22 years in July, suggesting the residential property market will continue to weigh on the economy this year.

Consents rose 4.7% in July to 1,405, seasonally adjusted, from 1,341 in June, according to Statistics New Zealand. The June reading was the lowest since 1986.

"Residential building activity is likely to drag on real GDP growth for the rest of this year and possibly into early next year," Robin Clements, senior economist at UBS New Zealand, said.

The domestic economy contracted in the first half of the year, according to the Treasury, the first recession since 1998 and UBS predicts a further shrinkage in the third quarter before growth resumes in the fourth. The trend in consents represents "a downside risk to our growth forecasts," Clements said.

The trend for the number of new dwellings, including apartments, has been declining since June last year.

By Jonathan Underhill



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update
FPH initiates voluntary limited recall
March 28th Morning Report
KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt.
SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner
NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results
March 27th Morning Report