Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Pete Wolfkamp: Newstalk ZB's Resident Builder on house building costs stabilising

Transcript

Pete Wolfkamp: Newstalk ZB's Resident Builder on house building costs stabilising · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Got some better news on the housing front for you
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: this morning. The mad cost increases we've seen and building
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: dissipating prices were up one point eight percent for the year.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: So compare that to the four point nine percent last
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  Speaker 1: year and indeed the nine point five percent the year before.
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  Speaker 1: Now Pete wolf Camp, host host of Resident Builder of Courses, Well,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: there's Pete. Very good morning to you.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you. Do my case, sir, I'm well.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Indeed, so not increasing the way it used to, that's
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  Speaker 1: the good news, but still at very elevated levels though,
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  Speaker 1: aren't they.
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  Speaker 2: Well that's the concern. Yes, that's great, one point eight annually,
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  Speaker 2: zero point three in the last quarter, but the scary
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  Speaker 2: numbers are back a little bit. And having discussions with
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  Speaker 2: people in the industry, yep, they shot up. They go
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  Speaker 2: up quickly, they come down very slowly, if they come
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  Speaker 2: down at all. So you're still, you know, nine and
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  Speaker 2: a half percent on let's say four and a half
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  Speaker 2: thousand dollars a square foot for a residential build. You're
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: talking nine hundred thousand dollars for a house, plus another
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  Speaker 2: eighty thousand on top at nine and a half percent.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Sorry, you said four and a half thousand a square
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  Speaker 1: what square foot or meter?
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  Speaker 2: Square meter? Doesn't it? Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: Sure so square meter four and a half thousand.
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  Speaker 2: But you're wear around here. Those numbers are dodgy.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I was going to say, because I've seen places
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  Speaker 1: at twenty five thirty thirty five thousand dollars a square
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  Speaker 1: meet at these new apartment buildings and stuff like that,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, how does anybody afford any of that?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? And I mean, look, that's at one end of
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  Speaker 2: the sector. I think, you know, what they're trying to
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  Speaker 2: identify is what's a typical New Zealand construction, you know,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: mid range or slightly below range. Let's say, what's that
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  Speaker 2: costing us per square meter? And those numbers have rocketed
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  Speaker 2: up over the last ten years exactly.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: So when we talk about these average numbers at one
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  Speaker 1: point eight percent a year, have things got under control
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  Speaker 1: all that jib talk and the supply talk and the
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  Speaker 1: competition talk. Has that settled down?
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah? Very much so. So I think what was really
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  Speaker 2: what was very difficult for people a couple of years
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  Speaker 2: ago is that you know, you might quote for a job,
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  Speaker 2: you'll have that price, accept that ben prices all riot
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: and you're locked in a fixed term contract and the
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: contract that often is the expense of that. That's probably
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  Speaker 2: showing in some of the liquidations that we see. It's
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  Speaker 2: also just put the nons pressure on all projects to
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  Speaker 2: try and keep their costs to a reasonable level. And
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  Speaker 2: that was incredibly difficult. So I guess that is good,
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  Speaker 2: you know, but it's still extensive. That's the real challenge
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  Speaker 2: for the same.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is, where does it go this year? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you know, what what what? What are we seeing? Because
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, here's here's the disconnect. Immigration. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: people coming into the country. Presumably there's some sort of
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  Speaker 1: demand there for housing, but the housing or at least
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  Speaker 1: the consents aren't what they were.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: We will continue to roll through the typical boom and bus.
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  Speaker 2: Right So, right now, and this is kind of that
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  Speaker 2: grassroots go out and search for a contractor right now, electrition, plumber, builder,
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  Speaker 2: They'll aren't to the phone and they'll be around the
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  Speaker 2: next day. Cast your mind to eighteen months ago, two
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  Speaker 2: years ago. That was almost impossible. So everyone that I know,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: for example, where let's say they weren't having the price
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: for work right if you could find a contractor you
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  Speaker 2: just got them on site, got them underway. Suddenly everyone's pricing,
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  Speaker 2: so those prices are a little bit chharper than they
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  Speaker 2: might have been a little while ago. Certainly in terms
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  Speaker 2: of supply yes, you're right, the jib that's been sorted out.
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  Speaker 2: Containers that were being dropped and I don't know Sydney
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  Speaker 2: for example, are making their way here. So some of
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  Speaker 2: those supply line issues are definitely sorted out. Whether or
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  Speaker 2: not the government policy around allowing the importation of building
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  Speaker 2: materials that are very similar or have met standard that
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  Speaker 2: are similar to our own makes some appreciable difference on
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  Speaker 2: the left waiting team, Go.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Mate, good to catch up with you appreciate it very much.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: People can't be the host of Residents Builder.
• 3:46
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• 3:49
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• 3:52
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