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Levels of construction activity remain high
Q1 2013 RICS Hong Kong Construction Market Survey
HONG KONG, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- It is evident that overall sentiment in the construction industry continues to be positive, from the data shown in the Q1 2013 RICS Hong Kong Construction Market Survey. Total workloads kept on rising in most parts of the industry, with the headline net balance moving from +39 to +37 in Q1.
The private commercial workloads net balance rose from +50 to +56, in terms of the sector breakdown. Respondents in the private industrial works category reported that workloads were stabilised, with the net balance strengthening from -20 to 0. On the other hand, public housing and public non-housing workloads continued to surge. Infrastructure workloads seemed to be an important factor again in pushing up the overall construction industry output.
Looking into the next 12 months, respondents are relatively more optimistic about the output and profit margins. The net balance for the former bounced up from +75 to +82 and for the latter, it rose from +52 to +64. Nonetheless, the net balance for employment expectations, decreased from +54 to +36. The average anticipated increase in construction output over the next 12 months is predicted by respondents to decline within the range of 5 to 7.5%.
Apparently, skilled labour shortages grew in the construction sector as more robust activity is seen in the industry. Respondents mentioned that skills shortages (91%) remained to be the main problem limiting building output in Q1. The highest net balance received turned out to be for other construction professionals (100%), when asked where the shortages were most pronounced.
Approximately 45% of respondents revealed that they used Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Q1. Of those that use it, 50% of respondents do so in the area of design, 25% in the area of cost management, and about 13% in the area of time management.
Commenting on the Q1 survey results, RICS Senior Economist Andy Wu, said, "While the overall construction industry in Hong Kong continues to gain momentum, we are becoming more guarded about the effects of the latest round of property tightening measures on future construction activity. Indeed, Hong Kong's property curbing measures introduced in late February have greatly impacted the fundamentals of both residential and commercial real estate. The construction demand for private residential and private commercial segments should be adversely affected and without doubt, this will have a damping effect on overall building activity in the foreseeable future."
Notes to Editors:
Headline Net Balance for Total Construction Workloads: An unweighted average of all of the sectors (in net balance terms) covered in the survey.
Net Balance: Proportion of surveyors reporting a rise in workloads minus those reporting a fall (if 30% reported a rise and 5% reported a fall, the net balance will be 25%).
About the Survey: The RICS Hong Kong Construction Market Survey is a quarterly sentiment survey of respondents who operate in the construction market sector.
About RICS & RICS Asia
RICS is the world's leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land, property and construction. In a world where more and more people, governments, banks and commercial organisations demand greater certainty of professional standards and ethics, attaining RICS status is the recognised mark of property professionalism.
Over 100,000 property professionals working in the major established and emerging economies of the world have already recognised the importance of securing RICS status by becoming members.
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The RICS Asia supports a network of over 11,000 individual professionals across the Asia Pacific region with an objective to help develop the property and construction markets in these countries, by introducing professional standards, best practice and international experience. It promotes RICS and its members as the natural advisors on all property matters. It also ensures that services and career development opportunities are provided to members.
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