‘Activity in the residential building sector has been steadily rising, and by March 2013 we had the fourth consecutive quarter of growth,’ said Blair Cardno, industry and labour statistics manager.
‘Looking to the long term, residential building activity has been trending up since September 2011, and is now at a level last seen in late 2008. The trend for overall building activity is also close to the level of the September 2008 quarter, after recovering from the low point of 18 months ago,’ he explained.
Nationally, non-residential building activity fell 0.8% in the first three months of the year but surged ahead in the Canterbury region due to reconstruction after recent earthquakes. Residential building work also grew strongly in Canterbury for the same reason.
The volume of overall building activity increased a seasonally adjusted 5.8% in the March 2013 quarter, following a 2% increase in the December 2012 quarter.
Meanwhile the latest rental yields data shows that in Auckland and Northland they are considerably higher in suburbs that contain lower value properties. The research from Barfoot & Thompson also shows lower yields for higher value properties.
The firm said that research over the last six months shows a strong correlation between gross rental yield and average sales price, with higher yields for lower value properties and lower yields for higher value properties.
The average gross yield across Auckland and Northland is 4%, the average weekly rental is $446 and the average sales price is $584,526.
Clendon Park in South Auckland has the highest rental yield of 7.4%, an average sales price of $245,545 and an average rental of $349for a three bedroom property per week. At 2.3%, Orakei, in the Eastern Suburbs, has the lowest yield, an average sales price of $1,271,486 and an average rental of $569 a week.
With an average sales price of $585,500, Browns Bay, on the North Shore, is the suburb closest to the average sales price. Browns Bay has an average weekly rental of $501 and a yield of 4.5%.