Shelter does seem to be always costing more, this is relatively true for most of the main city centers throughout NZ. Interestingly when looking back over the past five years, the cost of petrol and food has remained quite stable. In fact this stability is almost reminiscent of the early 2000’s.
The drop in the cost of petrol is quite dramatic over the past two years. This is great for most kiwis, although I have a feeling that those living in Auckland or Canterbury would have simply spent the spare cash on increased housing costs.
Our main city centers seem to have seen a steady increase in the median weekly wage since the last economic downturn. Wellington seems to have been a star performer in terms of the median wage increases, up until recently. Might be a fairly good place to have lived over the past few years; strong wage growth without the massive increases in the cost of housing. Although cost of having to live next to politicians is hard to put a number on.
Outside the main centers the increases in the household income have been somewhat subdued till recently. The past three years seem to have been a lot more positive. 2012 seems to have been a tough year for the edges of the North Island; Northland, Southland and Bay of Plenty had all taken a fairly big hit in household income. It was around the same time as Diary prices had come off some highs and the National Party had been reelected. For two of these regions the recovery was strong.
This article has been written by Hamish Patel, mortgage broker with mortgagesonline.co.nz. Ph: 09 625 4693, Mobile: 021 625 693, hamish@monline.co.nz
