Construction Boom Ahoy?

We’ve been waiting a while for the Christchurch rebuilding to commence, but serious issues such as whether and in what form the CBD can ever be reconstituted, and whether entire suburbs should be relocated, have delayed matters considerably.

The NZ herald today reported on a Westpac forecast that the work is about to commence and should add around 20 billion to the construction sector, taking it back to the levels of 2007, albeit temporarily.

For the moment, the construction sector is subsisting largely as a state beneficiary:

Pacifecon, the construction report and analysis business, said of the 511 new, tendered and commencing jobs worth $5 million-plus from June to November, 235 were for the Government.

Of 80 planned upper North Island jobs, 42 are for the Government.

Of the 77 upper North Island projects which had started, 36 were for the state.

That is a very high percentage, and really highlights the stagnation of the private development sector over the past 3-4 years.

The rest of the article is talking profit forecasts and construction types, and is worth a brief look.

All in all, it does seem that the ongoing delays in the Christchurch rebuild are nearly at an end.