MAJOR engineering and commercial construction in Australia is falling away faster than expected, says Deloitte Access Economics in its latest Investment Monitor data, and that is expected to weigh heavily on growth.
But that growth currently remains on trend, 'A very impressive position to be in at the tail of a resources boom' says today's Deloitte statement.
The Investment Monitor had a total recorded value of projects of $822.4 billion, a 5.4% increase from the previous quarter and 0.3% above the level recorded a year earlier.
The value of under-construction or committed projects increased by just over $48.6 billion over the quarter, a 12.7% rise. This takes the value of definite projects to its highest level since June 2015.
The value of planned projects in the database contracted by $6.7 billion, a 1.7% fall from the previous quarter.
Engineering construction is down by 27% over the year and activity in this sector is expected to fall back to 2005-06 levels by 2019-20.
Commercial property construction and other non-mining investment are showing weakness. "If the latest survey of private sector investment intentions published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics turns out to be correct, non-mining capital investment could fall to 4% of GDP in 2016-17 the lowest level since the survey began in 1987."
The Investment Monitor data follows Deloitte's monthly business outlook for July, which was released last week.
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