Accommodation – Page 4

May 28, 2018

Statistics New Zealand to publish property transfer statistics

On 7 June 2018, Stats NZ will publish statistics on property transfers by New Zealanders and overseas people.

The statistics will include information on the citizenship or visa status of people transferring property (including homes) in New Zealand. They will also include information on the tax residency of people and companies involved in property transfers.

The data in this release is mainly derived from land transfer tax statements (LTTS). LTTS collect tax-related data when people buy, sell, or transfer property, to ensure people comply with their tax obligations. They also gather some information for housing policy purposes.

Stats NZ is taking over the analysis and publication of property transfer statistics from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). LINZ has produced the quarterly Property transfers and tax residency reports since 2016 using LTTS data, and has helped Stats NZ replicate their methodology and enhance the data series.

“As statistical releases are part of Stats NZ’s core business, we’ve worked with LINZ to take over their reporting on property transfers,” property statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

“Some new features of the Stats NZ releases will be the time series of the data, and details of home transfers by their location in New Zealand.”

These statistics will appear on the Stats NZ release calendar, and be presented in the same format as the rest of Stats NZ’s information releases.

For the first time, the release will separate out property transfers to resident-visa holders. Previously these buyers and sellers were in the same category as New Zealand citizens. This additional detail will help provide a fuller picture of who is buying and selling property in New Zealand.

Property transfer statistics: March 2018 quarter will be published at 10:45am on 7 June 2018.

May 16, 2018

Crowded housing highest among Pacific peoples – Statistics New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Around 4 in 10 Pacific people live in crowded homes in New Zealand and the rate is highest for people with Tuvaluan or Tongan ethnicity, Stats NZ said today.

Overall, around 1 in 10 New Zealanders lived in crowded houses in 2013, a rate largely unchanged since the early 2000s.

“Crowding, especially severe crowding, is linked with poorer health, higher rates of infectious diseases, and poorer educational outcomes for children,” senior analyst Dr Rosemary Goodyear said.

Living in a crowded house looks at ethnicity, and for the first time considers the well-being of people in crowded homes, using data from the 2013 Census and the 2016/17 General Social Survey.

“We found that people living in crowded households are less satisfied with life, and more likely to be short of cash for everyday needs or a visit to the doctor,” Dr Goodyear said.

In total, 398,295 people lived in crowded homes at the time of the 2013 Census; of these, 129,123 were in severely crowded homes. About half of all crowded homes were in Auckland; the highest rates were in south Auckland.

Crowding was highest for people with Pacific ethnicity (39.8 percent), followed by people with Māori (20.0 percent) or Asian (18.4 percent) ethnicity.

“People with Māori or Asian ethnicity were four times more likely to live in crowded homes than people of European ethnicity. Pacific people were around eight times more likely to be living in a crowded house,” Dr Goodyear said.

“Half of all crowded households where the oldest person had a Pacific ethnicity had more than six people under one roof,” she said. Crowding was highest among people with Tongan ethnicity (48.7 percent were in crowded homes).

Around one-quarter of people in crowded households (24.2 percent) rated their life satisfaction as low, compared with 17.1 percent for the total population.

People in crowded households were significantly more likely to say they did not have enough money for everyday needs (25.8 percent compared with 10.9 percent of the total population).

Almost 4 in 10 people in crowded households said they had postponed visits to the doctor because of the cost (24.7 percent postponed by a little and 13.1 percent by a lot). This compares with around 2 of 10 in the total population.

Read Living in a crowded house: Exploring the ethnicity and well-being of people in crowded households for the full report.

More up-to-date information on household crowding will be gathered from the 2018 Census, held on 6 March.

“Given rapidly rising housing costs in many parts of New Zealand in the past five years, crowding is unlikely to have improved, but we won’t have a clearer picture until 2019 at the earliest,” Dr Goodyear said.

What is a crowded home?
Crowding occurs when homes are too small for the number of people in the household. A home is ‘severely crowded’ if the people living there need at least two more bedrooms.

A couple with two boys or two girls aged under 18 years would need two bedrooms to not be crowded and meet the Canadian National Occupancy Standard used in this report.

If that family had another person living with them, they’d be a ‘crowded’ home. If their two-bedroom house had seven people living there, it would rank as ‘severely crowded’, needing an extra two bedrooms.

May 11, 2018

Holiday parks hopping for early Easter – Statistics New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand

An early Easter helped lift holiday park guest nights by 25 percent in March 2018 – there were 188,000 more guest nights than the same month in 2017, Stats NZ said today.

“Two days of the Easter weekend falling in March this year was the most significant driver of guest night increases when compared with March 2017,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “Warm weather in March may have also been a factor.”

Total guest nights, including all accommodation types, rose 8.0 percent in March 2018 compared with the quieter March 2017, when the Easter holiday fell completely in April.

When the movement of the Easter holiday and other seasonal effects are accounted for, guest nights rose 0.7 percent in March 2018 from February 2018.

Holiday parks led the increase in guest nights. Kiwis spent 135,000 more nights in holiday park accommodation and international guests spent 52,000 more nights than the previous March.

“Holiday park guest nights often spike and fall in the months of March and April due to the movement of Easter. This month’s increase is similar to what was seen in March 2016, when all of Easter fell in the month,” Ms McKenzie said.

In the 12 months to March 2018, nights spent in holiday park accommodation numbered 8.2 million – 8.9 percent higher than the previous March year.

The accommodation survey collects data for guests staying in short-term commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks. Hosted and private accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and holiday homes, are excluded.

May 2, 2018

Auckland apartments help lift new home consents – Statistics New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand

01 May 2018, 10:45am – The number of new homes consented rose a seasonally adjusted 15 percent in March 2018, boosted by apartments, townhouses, and other multi-unit projects, Stats NZ said today.

In actual terms, 2,926 new homes were consented nationally in March, with 1,082 in Auckland. The Auckland number included 492 stand-alone houses; 361 apartments; 221 townhouses, flats, and units; and 8 retirement village units.

“About three-quarters of the new apartments consented in March were in Auckland, boosted by three large projects,” construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “National new-home numbers continue to fluctuate month to month due to apartments and other large projects.”

Stand-alone houses still accounted for 60 percent of all new homes consented across the country in March. In seasonally adjusted terms, new stand-alone house numbers edged up 0.1 percent compared with February 2018.

In the 12 months ended March 2018, 31,392 new homes were consented, up 2.5 percent on the year ended March 2017. Over the same period, apartment numbers rose 28 percent and townhouses, flats, and units rose 15 percent. Stand-alone houses fell 2.6 percent and the number of retirement village units consented fell 5.1 percent.

In Auckland, 11,192 new homes were consented in the year ended March 2018, up 9.7 percent compared with the previous March year.

April 26, 2018

Visitor numbers still flying high – Statistics New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand

A new high count of 3.82 million visitors arrived in New Zealand in the March 2018 year, Stats NZ said today. This was an increase of 276,200 (8 percent) from the March 2017 year.

“Two-thirds of this rise was due to more visitors from Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said. “Over half of all overseas visitors were holidaymakers, and over one-quarter were visiting friends and family.”

March 2018 broke the record for the number of overseas visitors for a March month – overseas visitor arrivals numbered 388,300, up 44,500 from March 2017.

The top source of visitor arrivals in March 2018 was Australia, at 37 percent of all visitor arrivals. This shows a similar pattern to the total number of arrivals to New Zealand across the months. Of those visiting from Australia, 42 percent were visiting friends/relatives and 39 percent were holidaying.

The next top sources of visitor arrivals in March were:

China – 11 percent of visitor arrivals (11 percent visiting friends/relatives, 80 percent holidaying)
United States – 11 percent of visitor arrivals (19 percent visiting friends/relatives, 70 percent holidaying)
United Kingdom – 7 percent of visitor arrivals (46 percent visiting friends/relatives, 45 percent holidaying).

New Zealanders taking overseas trips in March matches the population of Wellington city

In the March 2018 month, New Zealand residents made 211,300 trips overseas, up 10 percent from March 2017. “New Zealanders took around the same number of trips overseas in March as the population of Wellington city,” Mrs Theyers said. Departures were up for every month of the March 2018 year, compared with the same month in the March 2017 year.

In the March 2018 year, New Zealand residents set a new annual record of 2.89 million overseas trips for any 12-month period. This was up 215,400 (8 percent) from the March 2017 year. The number of trips made to most countries increased, the largest rises were:

Australia – up 33,800 (3 percent)
Fiji – up 22,400 (14 percent)
China – up 18,600 (18 percent)
United Kingdom – up 13,100 (12 percent).

March 22, 2018

Chinese New Year boosts visitors to February record

Statistics New Zealand

More than 15,000 visitors a day on average arrived in New Zealand in February, setting a new record for the month, Stats NZ said today.
Total overseas visitor arrivals numbered 423,500 in February 2018, the highest for any February. This total was up 43,400 from February 2017.
“The strong increase in visitor arrivals in February 2018 coincided with Chinese New Year, which is a peak travel period,” population insights senior manager Peter Dolan said. Chinese New Year was in mid-February this year, compared with late January in 2017.
February 2018 saw 68,900 visitors arriving from China; this was more than double the 33,700 that arrived in February 2017.


More visitors also arrived from other Asian countries that celebrate Chinese New Year; arrivals were up 2,200 from Hong Kong and 1,400 from Taiwan, compared with February 2017.


Visitor arrivals from Asia increased 50 percent in February 2018 from February 2017 – from 80,400 to 120,700.
The record visitor arrivals for the month also contributed to a record number for the February 2018 year. Visitor arrivals for the year numbered 3.78 million – a 7 percent increase on the February 2017 year.
New Zealanders make more trips overseasNew Zealand residents set a new annual February record of 2.87 million overseas trips in 2018, up 215,700 (8 percent) from the February 2017 year. The number of trips made to most countries increased, the largest increases being:
Australia – up 37,000 (3 percent)
Fiji – up 19,000 (12 percent)
China – up 18,600 (18 percent)
United Kingdom – up 12,700 (11 percent)
India – up 7,600 (11 percent).
In the February 2018 month, New Zealand residents made 151,100 trips overseas, up 2 percent from February 2017. “We had as many New Zealanders travelling overseas in February as the combined population of the Tasman, Nelson, and Marlborough regions,” Mr Dolan said.

March 14, 2018

Record guest nights in January

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Guest nights spent in short-term accommodation reached record levels in January, Stats NZ said today. Guest nights rose to 4.97 million, 1.4 percent higher than in January 2017.

Hotels and holiday parks were especially busy, with more international guest nights in January 2018. However, fewer New Zealanders stayed in motels than in January last year.

January is typically the height of the peak season for many accommodation operators, and usually the time when record highs are set.

“International guest nights also reached their highest-ever level in January, even as international visitor arrivals dipped slightly in the month,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “This may be because some people who arrived in 2017 stayed on in January.”

Of all accommodation types, hotel guest nights increased the most in January 2018, up 6.0 percent, boosted by both domestic and international guest nights. Guest nights spent in holiday parks increased 3.2 percent, driven by increased international guest nights.

Motels also benefited from record international guests, but had fewer Kiwis stay. Overall, motel guest nights dropped 3.4 percent from January 2017.

Guest nights spent in backpacker accommodation fell 2.3 percent from January 2017, with decreases for both international and domestic guest nights.

In the year ended January 2018, 39.53 million guest nights were spent in short-term commercial accommodation, 2.5 percent more than the previous January year and more than any other 12-month period.

Over the same period, international visitor arrivals numbered 3.73 million, 5 percent up on the January year before. New Zealand residents took 2.87 million trips overseas, up 9 percent.