The total volume of building in New Zealand slipped a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017, Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday.
That misses forecasts for a gain of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 1.3 percent increase in the previous three months (originally 1.9 percent).
Residential building activity shed 0.8 percent on quarter, while non-residential building activity skidded 7.2 percent.
"Building activity adjusted for price changes fell for the first time in two years, due to a decrease in commercial and other non-residential building work this quarter," said Jason Attewell, senior manager. "Building work has been at historically high levels since late 2015."
The value of building work on new homes was NZ$2.7 billion in Q1 making a total of NZ$3.3 billion residential work including alterations and additions.
There was also NZ$1.7 billion work on commercial and other non-residential buildings.
The seasonally adjusted value of all building activity fell 2.2 percent, following a 3.0 percent rise in the first quarter.
"In Auckland, the value of non-residential building work decreased a seasonally adjusted 17 percent, following a 15 percent rise in the December 2016 quarter. We sometimes see bigger movements in non-residential activity because of volatile timing with large building projects," Attewell said.
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