New Zealand's house building activity shrank in the first three months of the year as most new work was largely in non-residential construction.
The value of residential work put in place fell a seasonally adjusted 1.5 per cent to $1.35 billion in the three months ended March 31 from the previous quarter, while non-residential construction rose 1.8 per cent to $1.15 billion, according to Statistics New Zealand.
That left the value across all buildings unchanged at $2.5 billion.
"The overall decrease in the March 2012 quarter was due to a fall in residential work, which more than offset a rise in non-residential work," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "Building activity in Canterbury showed signs of picking up after the earthquakes, particularly for non-residential building work."
The value of actual work done lagged the pace of new building issuance as companies prepare to ramp up construction investment. Last month's National Bank Business Outlook showed optimism in both residential and commercial construction investment intentions.