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CONFIDENTIAL **
10.
of industrial accommodation and of shops increased
by 47% and 3% respectively, but those of offices
decreased by 72%. The sharp decline recorded in
the case of offices was a reflection of the very
high level of completions during the 12 months ending March 1986. For residential property, the
number of units increased by 7%.
20.
(a) Building consents
An
After two years of substantial increase,
the total usable floor area of private sector
industrial property for which consent to commence
work was given in the first quarter of 1987
decreased by 33% over the same period in 1986.
increase of 12% was registered in respect of private sector commercial property. As regards private sector residential property, building
consents decreased in the first quarter of 1987 by
3% in terms of floor area, and by 1% in terms of
the number of units.
21.
As the quarterly figures on building
consents are subject to considerable short-term
variations due to the size of building projects and
differences in the timing of their construction, it
is useful to look at the cumulative position over
four quarters. For the 12 months ending March
1987, building consents in respect of both private
sector industrial and commercial property showed
increases of 2% and 143% respectively over the
previous twelve months. As regards private sector
residential property, building consents increased
by 6% in terms of floor area, but decreased by 7%
in terms of the number of units. This suggests
CONFIDENTIAL # 3