New Zealand’s construction industry will pick up over the next two years as immigration and higher wages buoy demand for new homes, according to BIS Shrapnel Pty, a Sydney-based forecaster.
Completions of new homes will be between 17,300 and 18,600 a year in 2010 and 2011, the forecaster said in a statement e- mailed to Bloomberg News. Home-building approvals should recover after slumping to an eight-year low in 2009, it said.
New Zealand’s central bank forecasts the economy will expand 3 percent this year and 4.1 percent in 2011, boosting wages and consumer confidence, which will stoke housing demand. Construction will probably lag behind estimated demand for 29,000 houses a year, ensuring property prices rise, BIS Shrapnel said.
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Tags: Construction, new zealand, NZ
