New Zealand’s Tauranga Is the Fastest Growing Town, Says Study

New Zealand’s Tauranga town, noted for its sunny weather and proximity to Auckland, has been adjudged the fastest-growing town in the country for the last eight decades, according to a new research. In a joint study, economists from consultant group Motu and the University of Auckland looked at the town’s 80 years of history and traced the trends in population growth, economy and housing.

The report noticed that the five percent annual growth in Tauranga is way ahead among other fast-growing locales, such as Whakatane, Rotorua and Hamilton. Among the top 9 fastest-growing Kiwi towns, eight are in the upper North Island.

Reacting to the accolades for his city, Tauranga’s mayor Stuart Crosby said he is not surprised. He said Tauranga is already well known as the fourth-sunniest city in New Zealand and it has been on top for many things. “The weather's just one element of our lifestyle, I guess – sort of laidback sophistication… that's Tauranga," he said in a TV3 television program.

Tauranga's boom had slowed during the global financial crisis. But it has picked up steam as Auckland is getting congested. “This actually happened in the mid-2000s as well, when house prices rocketed in Auckland,” said Crosby. The town’s hall mark is not only the fine climate but also affordability at the housing front. While a Auckland home in the bottom quartile of prices will cost more than $600,000 any day, in Tauranga, for $400,000 one can get a "really nice, 220sqm home.” It offers easy access to Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, which is very close.

Youth Influx

The mayor said the town is changing its profile as pensioners’ paradise and getting younger people from Australia, Europe and all parts of New Zealand. “That's great, because we were heading down the alleyway of being a retirement village, but that's turned around in the last four or five years, for sure," he said.

Cosrby said the town had a lot of people in the retirement age. But real estate agents are now saying there is an influx from young family couples, which is “fantastic for our future,” the mayor noted. Despite its proximity to Auckland, the cost of housing in Tauranga has not ballooned like as it has been in Auckland. Crosby attributed Tauranga’s charm to its planned growth, "We've had a growth management strategy since 2003, so we roll out land in a sequential way with infrastructure, and all the community facilities with it," he said.

Very soon the NZ$450 million road heading east down the coastal strip of Papamoa Beach to bypass Te Puke will be commissioned and that will be a piece of lead infrastructure by NZTA for the town's planning, the Mayor said.

Rising Demand

Meanwhile, the QV House Price index, the latest nationwide residential property values for June has been updated. It showed an increase of 9.3 percent during 2014 and 3.6 percent over the last three months. The Auckland market went up 17 percent in 2014, and 5.5 percent in three months of 2015. Tauranga saw high demand from Aucklanders for its property. Of late, prices in Tauranga have also jumped--7.3 percent in 2014 and 4.1 percent from April to June in 2015.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)