Source: Quality Valuation (QV)
New Zealand’s residential construction costs have risen around 61% since 2015, compared with a 33% rise in the Consumers Price Index (CPI) — highlighting how building costs have surged ahead of everyday prices.
The data, drawn from QV CostBuilder, New Zealand’s largest subscription-based construction-cost platform, shows that building-cost inflation has run at roughly 1.8 times the pace of general inflation over the past ten years.
“Over the past decade, our data shows the cost of building a standard 175m² home rose 61%, compared with a 33% rise in general consumer prices,” said QV CostBuilder Quantity Surveyor Martin Bisset. “That’s a 28-percentage-point gap — building-cost inflation has been running well over one and a half times the pace of overall inflation.”
Since its launch in 2015, QV CostBuilder has provided those working in the construction industry including builders, quantity surveyors, valuers, architects, students and councils, with trusted data to help price and plan projects. The platform now tracks more than 61,000 rates and 18,000+ material and installer prices nationwide, updated monthly.
Mr Bisset said that while the last decade included dramatic spikes — particularly through 2021–2022 when global supply chains were disrupted and material costs soared — more recent years have brought greater stability. “We’ve seen the cost of construction flatten out since 2023, with annual increases back down around 1% in 2025,” he said.
Some materials have risen far faster than the average. Cedar weatherboards recorded the greatest increase tracked by QV CostBuilder, rising from $17 per metre in 2015 to a high of $64 in 2022, before easing back to $53 today. Shadowclad exterior plywood is up 110%, windows 72%, and steel sheet roofing 76%. Radiata pine clear flooring climbed 122%, carpet 41%, ready-mix concrete 43%, and Radiata pine framing 45%. Plywood saw one of the lowest rises, up just 12%. Construction labour costs increased slightly higher than CPI, up about 35%.
Non-residential buildings (excluding educational) rose 42% over the decade — quite a bit less than residential increases.
“There’s no doubt the past decade has been one of the most extraordinary periods for New Zealand’s construction industry,” said Mr Bisset. “QV CostBuilder’s consistent data has helped professionals benchmark costs and plan with greater confidence through some very challenging years.”
Many salaries in New Zealand have also failed to keep pace with inflation, rising much less than 33% over the past decade, making the affordability challenge even more pronounced for those wanting to build homes.
Over the past ten years, 439,000 individual costs have been updated within QV CostBuilder, helping subscribers save thousands of hours of research time. The platform delivers reliable, data-driven insights, providing ten years of support and 0% guesswork for construction professionals who rely on it to cost and plan projects with precision.
Since its launch, QV CostBuilder has continued to evolve — with new tools like Pick Lists for customised rate downloads, and close supplier engagement to keep data current and credible. As the construction sector looks to the next decade, QV CostBuilder continues to expand— providing the trusted foundation professionals need to plan, price, and build smarter.
QV CostBuilder is powered by state-owned enterprise Quotable Value (QV) and remains New Zealand’s most comprehensive subscription-based building-cost platform, covering everything from square-metre rates for homes, schools, and offices to material and labour pricing.
Mr Bisset added that to celebrate 10 years of QV CostBuilder, the company is offering $50* off new subscriptions for those who sign up by 14 November 2025 using the promo code COUNT-ME-IN. Go to costbuilder.qv.co.nz for more details.
*T&Cs apply
