There is little difference between the cost of building a house in New Zealand and Australia, according to a report by the NZIER released today.
The report for the Productivity Partnership on residential construction benchmarking found that the average cost of building a typical medium or high quality home in Sydney or Auckland, based on cost per square metre (materials and labour), is about the same (+/- 16%).This doesn't factor in land availability, planning requirements, regulation or building standards. NZIER found that building materials tend to be more expensive in New Zealand but labour tends to be cheaper (labour accounts for approx.30% of the total cost of a building a house here).
The study was done as part of wider research on the rate of innovation in residential construction in New Zealand.
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