HOUSE COST RISE GIVEN

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31780, 10 September 1968, Page 1

HOUSE COST RISE GIVEN

The cost of timber in a new 1000 sq. ft house rose by about $125 yesterday, said the vice-president of the Canterbury Timber Merchants’ Association (Mr K. J. Thomson).

This was a result of all indigenous and exotic timber prices rising by more than 5 per cent yesterday. Mr Thomson said about 62 per cent of the timbers used in house building in Canterbury were exotic. The timber price increase had been forced on merchants, he said. They had been seriously affected by the economic conditions over the last three years and were not able to absorb any extra costs. He said he thought that the building recession in Canterbury had reached the bottom and was on the way up again. Timber sales were moving better than they han been a few months ago. Some good contracts had been let lately. Several big Christchurch building firms cannot obtain sufficient carpenters to meet .the resurgence in the industry in commercial and cottage building. More than 750 tradesmen have left the building industry in Canterbury in the last 18 months. Because of in-

security of employment many may not return. The president of the Canterbury Master Builders’ Association (Mr E. W. T. Marriott) said yesterday that the timter price increases would knock the building industry. The increase of more than 5 per cent in timber prices would have a depressing influence on house building, which had been showing encouraging signs of recovery. Couples would find it harder to obtain the necessary deposit to build a home.