Construction Work Continues to Contract

Residential construction in NSW and QLD continue to bear down on the total construction industry across the country with a 5th quarterly decline in total construction.

The ABS's Quarterly Construction Activity for the September 2019 showed that the seasonally adjusted estimate for total construction work done fell -0.4% to $50,849.7m and down -7% on the same period last year.

Queensland was down -2% on last quarter and -11% on the previous year with Residential works down -8.5%, Non Residential works down -4.6% and Engineering works down -5.6% on the previous quarter. Queensland Non Residential Construction was positive +11% on the previous quarter as a number of major projects progress.

Across Australia, Residential construction activity fell -0.1% and total Engineering activity fell -0.2%, whilst Non Residential Construction activity rose 4%.

The results reveal that construction activity is now at the lowest level since December 2016 following 5 quarters of consecutive declines. The residential sector is likely to head lower as new large residential projects are less likely to commence. Non residential and engineering projects are expected to rise as infrastructure and related business expansion projects continue to increase.