Many immigrants choose Auckland as their place of residence with almost 30,000 new migrants stating that they plan to reside in Auckland this year. This of course places pressure on the existing housing stock and is starting to show up with changes in how we live.
In the past few years Aucklanders have dealt with this shortage in a number of ways. Urban sprawl stretching from Orewa to Pokeno has lead to longer driving times but has also meant the emergence of satellite cities and non central business centers. Boarders and second dwellings have become the norm in many suburbs as well. There are a few that have also started to look further afield should job opportunities allow and this has led to somewhat of a housing boom for small towns.
As we look further afield in the North Island, Wellington is becoming pretty popular with immigrants. Bay of Plenty and Waikato still have more migrants stating that they would reside there compared to last January. Gisborne is holding steady and still collect quite a number of new immigrants every year.
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
