Off the wire
• (V-Day)Highlights of China's military parade to mark end of WWII  • (V-Day)1st Ld-Writethru: Veterans lead China's V-Day parade  • Indian stocks open higher  • (V-Day) China concludes V-Day parade  • (V-Day) Highlights: China's core armaments displayed in massive military parade  • Interview: Serbia, China both make great sacrifices in World Anti-Fascist War: president  • (V-Day) Xinhua Insight: Massive parade highlights China's "active defense" military strategy  • (V-Day)J-15 carrier-based fighter jets debut in V-Day parade  • (V-Day) 1st Ld-Writethru: China stages largest air force show for V-Day celebration  • (V-Day) Female troops shine in V-Day parade  
You are here: 　 Home

Earthquake rebuild, housing crisis drive record New Zealand building work

Xinhua, September 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The value of building work in place in New Zealand in the quarter to the end of June hit a record 4 billion NZ dollars (2.54 billion U.S. dollars), the government statistics agency said Thursday.

The figure was up almost 8 percent on the June 2014 quarter and represented 900 NZ dollars (572 U.S. dollars) of building work per person, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"The value of both residential and non-residential building work increased overall," business indicators manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.

The changes reflected a refocus on building commercial properties in the earthquake-battered Canterbury region after the completion of home reconstruction and severe housing shortage in the biggest city of Auckland, which is home to a quarter of the population.

"In Auckland, residential work grew, while in Canterbury most of the growth was in non-residential work," said Kelly.

The overall volume of building activity rose by 1.6 percent, following a 1.8-percent increase in the March quarter, with the volume of non-residential work up 5.2 percent and residential work down 1 percent. Endi