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NORTH SHORE REGIONAL FOCUS 2010

A combination of demographic, lifestyle, business and locational advantages make Auckland’s North Shore a desirable place to live and work, a situation which has positioned the region’s property markets well to take advantage of the improving economy.

North Shore City is the fourth largest city in the country and it has continued to experience strong population growth over recent years. North Shore City Council estimated in 2009 the resident population to have reached over 225,000, an increase of nearly 10% since the 2006 Census.

 

 

The population growth is driven by high levels of inward migration both from other areas within New Zealand and overseas. The latter point is well illustrated by the fact that 40.8% of North Shore residents were born overseas, a figure which compares with the national average of 22.9%.

People are attracted to the area by a combination of factors such as the diversity of housing environments, excellent education, good employment prospects, lifestyle opportunities and proximity and ease of access to Auckland’s CBD.

Few regions in the country offer the choice of living in coastal, urban or rural surroundings whilst being close to a wide range of transport, work and leisure amenities.

The area offers amongst the best schooling in the country with approximately 85% of local schools having a government decile rating of 9 or 10, the highest proportion in New Zealand. In addition, the City also has campuses for both Massey University and Auckland University of Technology.

Proximity to beaches, the countryside and a wide range of entertainment, retail and leisure facilities provide residents with a sought after lifestyle, while also offering ease of access to Auckland’s CBD via State Highway 1, the recently completed Northern Busway park and ride system or the ferry network.

 

 

North Shore City has also, in recent years, become a significant regional business hub with a number of national and international companies such as Telstra Clear, Air New Zealand and Toll having established a significant presence in the area. The addition of companies such as these demonstrates the continuing evolution of the local economy from being predominantly industrial and local servicing in nature to being much broader based.

The region’s strong business growth is illustrated in the table below which shows the number of business units within North Shore City to have grown from just over 20,000 in 2000 to over 27,300 in 2009. During this same period the City’s total employment count grew by over 27%.

 

 

Whilst the impact of the global recession has been felt by local businesses, recent surveys indicate that vacancy rates, which have increased over recent years across all sectors, now appear to have stabilised as development and leasing activity has come into line. With the economy now emerging from recession and stronger growth forecast over the latter part of 2010 onwards, it is likely that these rates will begin to fall in the short to medium term.

The regional residential market has been showing signs of recovery for some time with a recent QV survey finding six North Shore suburbs to be amongst the fastest growing in the Country.