Home building costs soar

The average cost of building a home in New Zealand’s main centres has shot up 20.9 percent in the last 12 months.

QV CostBuilder, New Zealand’s construction cost database, reports that at the end of April, based on more than 60,000 updates rates, there was a 20.9 percent increase in the cost to build a standard three-bedroom home, compared with the same time last year.

The biggest elemental price increases since its last update at the end of 2021 were for stairs and balustrades, which went up 17.4 percent, due to increases in precast concrete and structural steel, followed by substructure (10.1 percent), site preparation (9.7 percent), framework (8.3 percent), and windows and exterior doors (8 percent).

QV CostBuilder spokesperson and quantity surveyor Martin Bisset says the sheer size of some of the increases, at a time when the construction industry is largely at capacity, is surprising.

He predicts that with inflation and interest rates also rising, and supply chain issues still prevalent, there will be further price increases in the future.
QV CostBuilder’s database of more than 60,000 costs across six regions of New Zealand – including Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin – is updated twice annually.

“It’s important to remember these figures are averages for the six cities covered by CostBuilder and the cost of building will always be dependent on the level of finishes, internal layout, and whether it has a single or double garage,” Mr Bisset says.