Although latest building consent figures indicate a steady year for building, RMBF chief executive Pieter Burghout is recommending Kiwis consider moving ahead on the renovation projects they have had on hold because their builder was unavailable.
“The residential market is continuing to soften in terms of the number of consents, but is still around a strong national average of 26,000 new dwelling units per year.
“We are still expecting that to soften a bit further into 2007,” Mr Burghout says.
“This means households who have been putting off alterations and additions to their homes due to builders’ workloads might actually be able to find someone to do the work over the next year.
“Prior to this, many were being told to wait six to12 months before a builder could even look at their project,” Mr Burghout says.
Mr Burghout’s comments came after Statistics New Zealand reported that the residential market was holding its own in terms of the dollar value of the work being done.
In January 2007, $538m of consents were issued, up 7% on January the previous year. The commercial market remains strong and steady also.
“This reflects a stronger market in the quality end of building value — for example, slightly fewer houses being built but at a higher value, which we see reflected in the quality of work being awarded in the RMBF PlaceMakers House of the Year Awards,” Mr Burghout says.
