This month has been a wet one, and we hope you all have managed to stay warm and dry.
Fortunately, the weather has not put off tourists visiting New Zealand. Benje Patterson examines the growth in private accommodation providers like Airbnb and how this is impacting the tourism sector.
Gareth Kiernan explores how the tightening of migration numbers will affect our economy and Kelvin Davidson highlights the improving conditions in the arable farming industry.
Lastly, Benje gives the personal finance ramifications of having too much of your personal wealth tied up in housing and what you can do to improve your situation.
Airbnb’s explosive growth has been integral in helping to ease accommodation bottlenecks in the New Zealand tourism sector over the past year. There are now around 20,000 listings on Airbnb in New Zealand and hosts earned a total of $55m over the March 2017 year. Of the $55m spent on Airbnb accommodation in New Zealand over the past year, $22m was spent in Auckland and $17m was earned by hosts in Queenstown-Lakes District.
New Zealand’s economic growth is being constrained by shortages of labour in key areas, and this problem will become more widespread if there is a significant and rapid tightening in migration policy following this year’s election, warns Infometrics Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan.
After a few tough years, the prospects for New Zealand’s primary sector are currently looking pretty good. There is a lot of commentary going around about the potential $6 trifecta for dairy, beef and lamb prices, while kiwifruit growers and wine producers are also looking forward to continued buoyant returns. One part of the primary sector, however, that doesn’t perhaps get the coverage that it warrants is arable.
Benje Patterson recently wrote a guest Top 10 post on interest.co.nz. At the risk of sounding like a bore, his post dealt with the housing market. But instead of lamenting high house prices, or crystal ball gazing for an appropriate time to enter (or exit) the market, his post focused on the personal finance implications of having so much money tied up in housing.
