Non-residential building activity led a sector slump in the June quarter, Statistics NZ data shows, but the fall was less than many had predicted. For the three months, residential building volumes fell 19 per cent while commercial and other non-residential work fell 27 per cent, after a 4.3 per cent fall in March. In rationalising the larger drop for commercial (vs. residential), the ASB economists pointed to the period that New Zealand was operating at COVID-19 Level 3, which affected operations on large commercial projects to a higher degree than small residential sites.
