But even so nearly one in five new homeowners report that roofers needed to return to address installation issues.
Launched today, Build Insights contains much more than just data on tradie callbacks.
BRANZ has gathered economic data from across New Zealand’s building and construction sectors into one place, with the aim to “help people connect the dots across the building system”.
BRANZ CEO, Claire Falck, wants the sector to use more data-driven insights.
“The impact of anecdotal feedback can have far-reaching consequences,” Falck said.
“For instance, rumours about material shortages or misunderstanding of regulatory changes might lead to panic buying and artificial price inflation.
“We need facts and reliable data. By prioritising data-driven decision-making, stakeholders can mitigate these sorts of risks and foster a more stable and predictable environment.”
When asked about the high callback rate Master Builders Chief Executive, Ankit Sharma said: “These are large and complex build projects, and it is commonplace for your builder to have to return to site to address minor issues and defects.
“Our advice to our members, and to homeowners, is to establish clear expectations at the outset, including agreeing when defects will be remedied.
“Our advice to anyone thinking of building, is to do their due diligence to find a builder that they can be open and honest with.”
New homeowner satisfaction is also going in the wrong direction.
In 2017, 89% rated their builder on the overall quality of their homes as good.
In 2023, the most recently surveyed year this had dropped to 81%.
Similarly, in 2017, 70% of new homeowners were likely to recommend their builder. By 2023 this had dropped to 61% and the proportion unlikely to recommend their builder had risen to 32%.
That’s one in three people who are unhappy with the person responsible for what will often have been the biggest and most expensive project of their lives.
Interestingly, during this period of increasing dissatisfaction the callback rate has remained largely unchanged.
Build Insights includes data from all the stages of the construction pipeline.
The time taken to process consents depends a lot on where you live. The median processing time from the Waikato District Council was 19 days, but in Carterton it was only five days.
Auckland is the slowest of the large councils with a median processing time of 16 days, while in Wellington and Christchurch it was a week faster at 11 days.
Ian McCormick, general manager, Auckland Council noted that, “Auckland has a greater range and proportion of complex works reflected in their building consent applications than other territorial areas.
“Our new residential consent applications typically comprise multiple dwellings, which will not be the case in most other areas.”
These figures are medians; meaning that half of the consents submitted are processed in this time, but the other half take even longer.
The cost of buying land to build has been decreasing.
According to BRANZ it has dropped to the lowest point in nearly three years. In the December 2024 quarter. the median section price in New Zealand was $528 per sq m.
Unsurprisingly, land prices depend on where you live. The median cost of a section in Auckland is nearly double the national value at $1060 per sq m.
While on the West Coast you can pick up land for a tenth the cost of in Auckland.
Far more people are now preparing for careers in the construction section than 10 years ago.
In the 10 years from 2014, the number of apprentices more than doubled to 45,520 people and about 10,000 more people were completing construction-related qualifications.
The total number of people participating in construction-related training and qualifications increased from 57,000 in 2014 to 93,000 in 2023.
Although BRANZ notes that recently, fewer building and construction companies have started and in February liquidations were up 37% on the previous year.
Explore more construction and building sector data in Build Insights.
