The value of residential building work put in place was $1,748 million in the December 2003 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. This is $326 million or 23 percent higher, when compared with the December 2002 quarter. The trend for the value of residential building work put in place has been rising since the March 2001 quarter.

The value of non-residential building work put in place was $892 million in the December 2003 quarter, up $21 million or 2 percent, compared with the December 2002 quarter. Commercial buildings made the largest contribution to non-residential building work put in place with $250 million or 28 percent of the non-residential total in the December 2003 quarter. The trend for the value of non-residential building work put in place has been rising since the March 2003 quarter.

In the December 2003 quarter, the total value of all building work put in place was $2,641 million, up $347 million or 15 percent, compared with the December 2002 quarter. The trend for all building work put in place has been rising since the March 2001 quarter.

The deflated value (the value after the effects of price changes have been removed) of residential building work put in place was 14 percent higher in the December 2003 quarter than in the December 2002 quarter. The deflated value of non-residential building work put in place was down 3 percent, while the deflated value of all building work put in place was up 7 percent, when comparing the two December quarters.