The Star: December 14, 2023

The Star Thursday December 14 2023
20
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Canty lifestyle attracting Aucklanders
• By Nikki Preston
AUCKLANDERS are on the
move, coming to Christchurch in
their droves for a better work-life
balance.
More New Zealanders moved
to Canterbury than any other
region for the second year in a
row – 11,000 people in the year
ending June 2023, including
3000 who moved from elsewhere
in New Zealand.
Of that 11,000, 44 per cent had
moved to Christchurch, with
a further 31 per cent moving
to Selwyn and
12 per cent to
Waimakariri.
Christchurch-
NZ economic
analyst Sophie
Jones said the
Sophie
Jones
type of migrant
varied across
different parts
of Canterbury,
with Christchurch capturing
people moving from overseas,
and Selwyn and Waimakariri attracting
people from other parts
of the country.
Ray White Metro sales
manager Richard Withy said
they were still seeing a flow of
people moving down from the
North Island.
“The ones I’ve met have not
BETTER LIFESTYLE: A property on Westburn Tce, in Ilam, was bought sight unseen by
overseas buyers planning to relocate to Christchurch.
PHOTO: NZ HERALD
been coming here just
to get a cheaper house,
it’s generally because
they either had a family
connection, for others
it’s about employment –
they’ve got a job transfer
and better prospects here
and you combine that
with the lifestyle of the
Port Hills, the beach,
the alps – it’s very different to
the North Island, but
it is seeming to be very
attractive.”
Withy said last year
they had a family who
had self-classified
themselves as “Auckland
refugees” and made the
Richard move for a change in
Withy lifestyle for their young
family.
The more affordable housing
was also a bonus and many
were able to significantly lower
their mortgages after making
the move as they shifted from
a $1.2m house in Auckland
to one for about $700,000 in
Christchurch.
In addition to Kiwis moving
down south, he said there had
also been a huge diversification
in ethnicity as people arrived
from overseas.
ChristchurchNZ’s analysis of
migration data supported this
and showed most people settling
in Christchurch were most likely
moving from China, India,
Philippines, Australia, the UK
and South Africa.
While Hornsby, Halswell,
the CBD and Burwood have
on paper been the suburbs that
appeared to have benefitted
most from migration, agents
told OneRoof they were actually
buying all over the city.
In the last two months about
75 per cent of Harcourts agents
Tim Sprott and Nicky Brownlee
sales’ had been to overseas
buyers including a property
on Westburn Tce in Fendalton
that was snapped up in a
competitive auction by a phone
buyer in Taiwan relocating to
Christchurch earlier in the year.
Median rental prices had
grown 9.8 per cent in Canterbury
in the year ending September
2023 with the median rental
price rising from $455 to $500
per week.
The shift in house prices had
been less dramatic, with the
average house price in the three
months to November showing a
2 per cent rise in Christchurch,
according to CoreLogic’s house
price index. – NZ Herald
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