00:00:00
Speaker 1: So GDP came in right where they expected it, up 0.2% for the June quarter. Construction, biggest bolter, up 2.7%, more residential building, biggest jump since Q2 of 23. Ankit Sharma, Master Builder, CEO. Morning, Ankit, how are you?
00:00:15
Speaker 2: Good morning, Ryan.
00:00:16
Speaker 1: So is this sort of ring true to you? Is this what it feels like out there, especially with residential?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: It does actually. So our state of the sector survey showed that 68% of building businesses have strong or steady pipelines. That was up from 68, 64% last year. And we have been seeing steady signs of improvements in both business and consumer confidence. So it's actually good to see that confidence turning into real growth.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Whereabouts is it happening?
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Well, I think Canterbury is definitely outshining, doing really well. So I think it's probably had one of the strongest quarter in like 15 years. And I was in Christchurch earlier this week and I was asking, look, what's driving this? So they are seeing a quite a significant demand coming from first home buyers. The one which I think was very interesting is Canterbury is seeing a lot of internal migration and the people who are migrating into Canterbury from Auckland and other regions are They're not worrying about what's happening with the economy or election coming up. They actually want to buy a house for their family. So that's quite a significant driver of that growth. And they are also now seeing an uptick into downsizes. So these are people wanting to downsize into a lower cost, lower maintenance home. So those three segments, I think, are driving quite a significant residential growth in Canterbury.
00:01:37
Speaker 1: Plus, there's a whole bunch of townhouses being built for Airbnb, I've noticed, particularly in the inner city.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Yes, and there's a lot of investor interest, probably not as much as they've seen historically, but they are seeing a lot of investors getting into those townhouses. And what those townhouses are doing is they're actually bringing the cost of buying into a house down. So that's why those segments of people moving into a new city are first-time buyers. Suddenly, the housing is very accessible, and I think that's driving probably this strong uplift.
00:02:13
Speaker 1: Ankit, good to have you on the show this morning. Ankit Sharma, who's Master Builder's Chief Executive.
Speaker 1: So GDP came in right where they expected it, up 0.2% for the June quarter. Construction, biggest bolter, up 2.7%, more residential building, biggest jump since Q2 of 23. Ankit Sharma, Master Builder, CEO. Morning, Ankit, how are you?
00:00:15
Speaker 2: Good morning, Ryan.
00:00:16
Speaker 1: So is this sort of ring true to you? Is this what it feels like out there, especially with residential?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: It does actually. So our state of the sector survey showed that 68% of building businesses have strong or steady pipelines. That was up from 68, 64% last year. And we have been seeing steady signs of improvements in both business and consumer confidence. So it's actually good to see that confidence turning into real growth.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Whereabouts is it happening?
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Well, I think Canterbury is definitely outshining, doing really well. So I think it's probably had one of the strongest quarter in like 15 years. And I was in Christchurch earlier this week and I was asking, look, what's driving this? So they are seeing a quite a significant demand coming from first home buyers. The one which I think was very interesting is Canterbury is seeing a lot of internal migration and the people who are migrating into Canterbury from Auckland and other regions are They're not worrying about what's happening with the economy or election coming up. They actually want to buy a house for their family. So that's quite a significant driver of that growth. And they are also now seeing an uptick into downsizes. So these are people wanting to downsize into a lower cost, lower maintenance home. So those three segments, I think, are driving quite a significant residential growth in Canterbury.
00:01:37
Speaker 1: Plus, there's a whole bunch of townhouses being built for Airbnb, I've noticed, particularly in the inner city.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Yes, and there's a lot of investor interest, probably not as much as they've seen historically, but they are seeing a lot of investors getting into those townhouses. And what those townhouses are doing is they're actually bringing the cost of buying into a house down. So that's why those segments of people moving into a new city are first-time buyers. Suddenly, the housing is very accessible, and I think that's driving probably this strong uplift.
00:02:13
Speaker 1: Ankit, good to have you on the show this morning. Ankit Sharma, who's Master Builder's Chief Executive.
