According to the Office for National Statistics private housing increased by 5.9% in the last quarter of 2012.
This indicates an improvement over the previous quarter but is still below the level achieved in the same quarter in 2011. The 2012 Q4 is down 3.8% on the 2011 Q4. Public housing however didn't fair as well, public sector housing output dipped 1.9% in Q4 2012 compared to Q3. This represents a 17% drop compared to Q4 2011.
ONS also said that construction output in Q4 2012 were 0.9% higher than in Q3, this was mainly due to the increase in private housing and infrastructure. Over 2012 private housing output volumes were around three times greater than public sector housing levels.
Although total output was down 9.3% when comparing Q4 2012 with Q4 2011.
Simon Rawlinson, head of strategic research at EC Harris, commented: "The housing data will definitely be worth following closely over the next few months. When recovery does come in the private sector, resource may prove to be more scarce than expected.”
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