Building a home now costs 61% more than a decade ago - but not in Canterbury

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

Townhouses on Gloucester St and Madras St in central Christchurch. Costs to build housing in the city have risen at a lower rate than in most of the rest of the country over the last decade.

The cost of building a home in New Zealand has surged 61% on average over the past decade – nearly double the 33% rise in general consumer prices – creating a deepening affordability crisis for would-be homeowners.

Canterbury has fared better than most of the country.

The average cost to build a three-bedroom house over the last 10 years has skyrocketed, according to QV Costbuilder.

Canterbury construction expert Mike Blackburn, who has tracked building consent numbers for the past 10 years, said the rise in the cost of construction in the region had been lower, with Christchurch up 38% since 2016, Selwyn 52% and Waimakariri 54%.

Data from QV CostBuilder, New Zealand's largest subscription-based construction-cost platform, shows building-cost inflation has run at roughly 1.8 times the pace of general inflation since 2015.

The cost of building a standard 175m² home has risen 28 percentage points more than the consumers price index (CPI).

Almost all of Canterbury’s increases were attributable to the 2020/21 period when supply chain disruptions hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Construction consultant Mike Blackburn says Canterbury has fared better than much of the rest of the country over the last decade in terms of housing construction costs.

Over the past three years, Christchurch construction costs have risen just 3.1% in total.

“Prices have stabilised significantly,” said Blackburn, author of the Canterbury Construction Report.

“But of course, the bad news is that when prices go up, in general terms, they don’t come down.”

The median cost of construction of an individual dwelling in Christchurch city, per square metre.

Canterbury accounts for one in every five new homes built nationally, Blackburn said, with that increased activity and competition helping keep prices lower than in other regions.

While Queenstown, Wānaka and Invercargill have shown strong building activity, Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough have not performed as well, in line with the overall downturn in construction numbers for much of the country.

The national figures reveal some building materials skyrocketed.

The median cost of construction of all dwellings in the Selwyn district, per square metre.

Cedar weatherboards jumped from $17 per metre in 2015 to a peak of $64 in 2022, before settling at $53 today.

Shadowclad exterior plywood was up 110%, windows 72%, steel sheet roofing 76%, Radiata pine clear flooring 122%, carpet 41%, ready-mix concrete 43% and Radiata pine framing 45%.

Construction labour costs increased about 35%.

The median cost of construction of all dwellings in the Waimakariri district, per square metre.

QV CostBuilder quantity surveyor Martin Bisset said construction costs had flattened since 2023, with annual increases back down around 1% in 2025.

Blackburn said stricter thermal energy efficiency regulations introduced during 2021/22 also added significant costs to house construction.

He attributed Canterbury's better performance to higher building activity keeping competition strong and prices in check.

However, increased demand was now pushing up land prices in the region.

“That's probably the only wrinkle in the good news story that is house building in Christchurch,” Blackburn said.

The affordability challenge was compounded by many salaries failing to keep pace with even general inflation over the decade, the data showed.

Blackburn cautioned that median construction costs could be misleading, with actual prices varying wildly between builders.

While the median cost per square metre in Christchurch was around $2600, some builders were constructing homes for as little as $2100 per square metre, while others charged up to $3500.

“Choosing your builder more carefully might be better than just going with what you think the market rate is,” he said.