School holidays are in full swing, and for those of us with children it is both a joyous time of having our children at home, and a dawning realisation of just how much they do at school and how busy it keeps them during the day.
In this month’s newsletter Hilary Parker looks at the regional benefits of international students and their education. This article is based on reports written by Adolf Stroombergen, our Chief Economist, whom we interview this month to find out what a day in his life looks like.
Benje Patterson turns the spotlight on Southland and looks at how our Small Area Profiles can provide valuable insights to councils preparing their Long-Term Plan.
We introduce Infometrics’ latest forecasts, with an article discussing how forecast house price falls and higher interest rates are going to put a dampener on household spending.
For the first time, the value of international education has been measured in eight regions around New Zealand in a series of reports authored by Infometrics Chief Economist Adolf Stroombergen and the National Research Bureau (NRB) for Education New Zealand. Hilary Parker examines the regional impact of international education on two New Zealand areas.
Councils nationwide have begun preliminary work scoping out key issues for their 2018 Long-Term Plan – a document that sets out each Council’s intentions for the next decade. The LTP process is an arduous one that puts the focus on localised issues affecting infrastructure, business and community development across all townships and communities within each territorial authority. Southland District provides an interesting case study for teasing out sub-district insights from Infometrics small area profiles.
Infometrics’ latest forecasts show house prices falling in the second half of 2017, as the flow-on effects of tighter mortgage lending conditions and higher interest rates dampen demand. The emergence of flat or falling house prices within the next few years will undermine consumers’ willingness to spend, while the discretionary portion of households’ budgets will be squeezed as interest rates gradually rise from their historic lows.
