Construction costs plateauing, positive for developers – QV

4th June 2025 By Staff Reporter | news@propertyticker.co.nz | @propertyticker

Construction costs barely rose in the second quarter of 2025, according to the latest QV CostBuilder.

The average cost of building a standard one- or two-storey 150/230 square metre home in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin or Palmerston North increased 0.1% in the past three months, down from the 0.4% increase recorded in the first quarter of this year.

QV said the annual cost of building a home in one of those six centres increased by an average of 1.3%, which is in stark contrast to the double-figure growth seen in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The cost of building non-residential buildings (excluding educational buildings) increased by 0.1% this quarter, with an annual cost increase just 0.9%.

QV said in its Q1 update, costs remained steady, up 0.1% for the quarter and 1.2% for the year, which reflected the downward trend in building costs in New Zealand.