Residential building activity in New Zealand spiked a seasonally adjusted 12.0 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday - marking the highest increase in 10 years.
The headline figure followed the 1.8 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2012.
"Activity in the residential building sector has been steadily rising, and by March 2013 we had the fourth consecutive quarter of growth," industry and labor statistics manager Blair Cardno said.
Nationally, non-residential building activity fell 0.8 percent in the first quarter, but surged ahead in the Canterbury region. Residential building work also grew strongly in Canterbury during the quarter.
"Looking long-term, residential building activity has been trending up since September 2011, and is now at a level last seen in late 2008. The trend for overall building activity is also close to the level of the September 2008 quarter, after recovering from the low point of 18 months ago," Cardno said.
The volume of overall building activity increased a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent in Q1, following a 2.0 percent increase in the three months prior.
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