Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s recent building boom has changed the make-up of some suburbs around the country.

Census data shows the number of households who do not own their own homes has dropped in the past decade.

Some suburbs have experienced even more dramatic changes.

Auckland’s Penrose, for example, was 56.7 percent renters in 2013 and 52.5 percent in 2018, but had dropped to 27.8 percent by 2023. It has a relatively small number of homes, but the number more than doubled from 201 in 2013 to 453 in 2023.

Ruakura in Hamilton had a similarly large increase in owners. In 2013, it was 50 percent renting households, but that dropped to 27.6 percent by 2023. It went from 84 homes in 2013 to 729 in 2023.

Wharewaka in Taupo also featured, with renting population dropped over 10 years from 32 percent to 12.2 percent, as the number of homes increased from 309 to 639.

Hobsonville, Auckland, had a renting population drop from 43.8 percent in 2013 to 24.8 percent, as the number of homes ballooned from 576 to 4956.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said new developments had changed the character of suburbs around the city.

“All the people living in those places tend to be owner-occupiers,” he said. “We’re building more homes and more people are getting into homeownership – I think that’s a good thing.

“[Places like Penrose] have gentrified… the wealthy suburbs are pushing further and further out.

“Mangere Bridge, people used to look down on it. Now, it’s a perfectly desirable suburb, great location right next to the water.”

He said the opposite seemed to be happening in places like Queenstown, where the renting population was growing. Stonefields in Auckland, Lake Hayes Queenstown, and Goodwood Heights and Sunnynook in Auckland had strong increases in the renting population.

Stonefields went from 12.5 percent to 28.9 percent renters.

Cotality chief economist Kelvin Davidson said loan-to-value rules, which had an exemption that meant people buying new properties did not have to meet the same deposit requirements, had pushed buyers to new builds.

“Those sorts of properties have been in demand from buyers, because – for example – they can get around the LVR rules.

“Particularly when Auckland housing affordability was really stretched, a way to buy a house in Auckland was to get a townhouse, because they’re exempt from LVRs. They’re cheaper, anyway, than standalone houses.”

He said places like Marshland in Christchurch, where renters dropped from more than 27 percent to 11.3 percent, had seen the same effect.

Davidson said people who bought the new houses may have vacated other rental properties that tenants could move into.

“All else equal, the owner-occupier rate has gone up in Penrose,” he said. “It’s potentially because people used to be renting there and then they’ve been able to buy.

“The houses don’t disappear. Possibly there’s been some people ‘pushed out’, but those people who pushed them out had to come from somewhere and that’s a house that’s freed up somewhere else.

“Kiwi society, the home ownership dream, all of that, a lot of people would probably view these stats as pretty positive in these suburbs.

“The owner-occupier rate has improved and that’s seen as desirable in New Zealand.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand business owners are facing rising levels of stress after years of tough economic conditions, according to the latest State of Business Poll from Research New Zealand.

The April poll, which surveyed more than 400 business owners and senior managers, found nearly two‑thirds of respondents believe the current state of the economy is “bad” or “very bad”.

That figure has remained stubbornly high and is worse than comparable surveys conducted earlier last year.

Alongside the negative economic outlook is a growing sense of strain among business owners themselves.

All types of business owners, regardless of their industry category, business size, or region, are feeling stressed.

The poll found 83 percent of respondents reported experiencing some level of stress, with many saying they had struggled to feel hopeful or optimistic in recent weeks.

Research New Zealand managing partner Emanuel Kalafatelis said the survey showed a business community that has been under sustained pressure for an extended period.

“Most business owners are still very much in survival mode,” he said.

A record 42 percent of respondents said they had hardly ever felt hopeful or optimistic in the last two weeks, or not at all.

Only 22 percent said they had felt optimistic frequently over that period.

While the ongoing conflict in the Middle East was a concern for many firms, Kalafatelis said it was just one of many existing challenges rather than the sole cause of weak confidence.

Nearly three‑quarters of respondents said they were worried about the impact of the conflict on the broader economy, and about half believed it would directly affect their own business.

“While the domestic economy has continued to splutter in the interim, the conflict in the Middle East has put a further spanner in the works,” Kalafatelis said.

The survey also found significant caution about the year ahead.

Around a quarter of respondents expect sharp declines in revenue or profitability over the next 12 months, and nearly a third anticipate costs rising by 20 percent or more.

As a result, 52 percent of businesses said they were focused on just maintaining their current size, 16 percent were looking to downsize, and just 31 percent were planning any expansion or new investment.

Speaking after the release of the survey, Kalafatelis said the findings underscored the need for stronger government support for businesses under strain.

He told RNZ that targeted measures, including subsidies, could help firms cope with rising costs and prolonged uncertainty.

The survey of 433 business owners and managers was conducted online, between 24 March and 2 April 2026.

The maximum margin of error is +/- 5.8 percent (at the 95 percent confidence level).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand