title: Past research on the impact of international migration on house prices: Implications for Auckland

authors: Cochrane, William

abstract: While conducting a strategic review of the New Zealand immigration system in terms of assessing its contribution to economic growth, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) noted that “some people are of the view that increases in net migration are impacting the housing market and infrastructure, especially in Auckland……” and that “at this point in time, there is no conclusive evidence supporting these concerns….”. While MBIE has done some recent work in this area, the focus has tended to be on New Zealand as a whole. MBIE wanted therefore to advance this work with a specific focus on the impact of net international migration (usually measured as the difference between permanent and long term (PLT) departures and PLT arrivals) and, where possible, visa-controlled immigration (i.e. the numbers of people granted temporary or permanent visas) on the Auckland housing market. To this end MBIE engaged the University of Waikato to produce a concise review of the conclusions that can be drawn from the recent international and New Zealand literatures regarding the impact of net international migration on housing markets. The emphasis is of course on conclusions that would be relevant for, or that can be directly applied to, the Auckland housing market. This note provides this concise review of the literature. Trends in relevant core statistical indicators are also provided.
To focus the review, the following six hypotheses were considered (our conclusion concerning the veracity of the hypothesis in terms of available evidence in the literature is stated in bold):
1. The decrease of New Zealanders leaving in recent years, due to relatively strong economic growth and a subdued Australian economy, has had a bigger impact on rising house prices in Auckland than the growing number of migrants settling in Auckland. 
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
2. The contribution of the inflow of Australians and of returning New Zealanders to population growth in Auckland has had a bigger impact on house price increases than other permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals.
𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞
3. Current and recent (5 years previous) net international migration trends (considering both PLT arrivals and departures) have had a minor impact on the Auckland housing market, relative to other factors.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
4. Investor migrants are not having a disproportionate impact on the Auckland housing market as they are purchasing largely commercial property or a single individual residence.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
5. Until comprehensive data become available on country of residence of buyers and sellers at the time of a sale, it cannot be established conclusively that offshore investors drive up house prices in particular areas in central Auckland.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
6. Given the above and the time lags between immigration policy changes and impacts, it is unlikely to be useful to make changes to immigration policy to dampen Auckland house prices.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
Overall we find that the literature and the available data on population change suggest that visa-controlled immigration into New Zealand, and specifically into Auckland, in the recent past has had a relatively small impact on house prices compared to other demand factors, such as the strongly cyclical changes in the emigration of New Zealanders, low interest rates, investor demand and capital gains expectations. Consequently, changes in immigration policy, which can impact only on visa-controlled immigration, are unlikely to have much impact on the housing market.

text: Past research on the impact of international migration on house prices: Implications for Auckland While conducting a strategic review of the New Zealand immigration system in terms of assessing its contribution to economic growth, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) noted that “some people are of the view that increases in net migration are impacting the housing market and infrastructure, especially in Auckland……” and that “at this point in time, there is no conclusive evidence supporting these concerns….”. While MBIE has done some recent work in this area, the focus has tended to be on New Zealand as a whole. MBIE wanted therefore to advance this work with a specific focus on the impact of net international migration (usually measured as the difference between permanent and long term (PLT) departures and PLT arrivals) and, where possible, visa-controlled immigration (i.e. the numbers of people granted temporary or permanent visas) on the Auckland housing market. To this end MBIE engaged the University of Waikato to produce a concise review of the conclusions that can be drawn from the recent international and New Zealand literatures regarding the impact of net international migration on housing markets. The emphasis is of course on conclusions that would be relevant for, or that can be directly applied to, the Auckland housing market. This note provides this concise review of the literature. Trends in relevant core statistical indicators are also provided.
To focus the review, the following six hypotheses were considered (our conclusion concerning the veracity of the hypothesis in terms of available evidence in the literature is stated in bold):
1. The decrease of New Zealanders leaving in recent years, due to relatively strong economic growth and a subdued Australian economy, has had a bigger impact on rising house prices in Auckland than the growing number of migrants settling in Auckland. 
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
2. The contribution of the inflow of Australians and of returning New Zealanders to population growth in Auckland has had a bigger impact on house price increases than other permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals.
𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞
3. Current and recent (5 years previous) net international migration trends (considering both PLT arrivals and departures) have had a minor impact on the Auckland housing market, relative to other factors.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
4. Investor migrants are not having a disproportionate impact on the Auckland housing market as they are purchasing largely commercial property or a single individual residence.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
5. Until comprehensive data become available on country of residence of buyers and sellers at the time of a sale, it cannot be established conclusively that offshore investors drive up house prices in particular areas in central Auckland.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
6. Given the above and the time lags between immigration policy changes and impacts, it is unlikely to be useful to make changes to immigration policy to dampen Auckland house prices.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝
Overall we find that the literature and the available data on population change suggest that visa-controlled immigration into New Zealand, and specifically into Auckland, in the recent past has had a relatively small impact on house prices compared to other demand factors, such as the strongly cyclical changes in the emigration of New Zealanders, low interest rates, investor demand and capital gains expectations. Consequently, changes in immigration policy, which can impact only on visa-controlled immigration, are unlikely to have much impact on the housing market.

year: 2016

title: The Companies Act 1993 and Directors’ Duties: Small and medium entities are not well catered for

authors: Bather, Andrea

subjects: accounting

abstract: In 1993 New Zealand passed into law the Companies Act. The Act was a combination of work done by the New Zealand Law Commission and the Justice Department. It was anticipated that the Act would provide all the information necessary to enable a prospective director to understand what was required in incorporating and winding up a company, as well as the requirements to be met whilst doing business using that form. This paper contends that the Act does not contain the Law Commission’s original intentions in terms of directors’ duties, compliance with which is argued to be the quid pro quo of the right to incorporate, where the company is a small or medium entity. The paper further contends that amendments to the Act are necessary to take account of the needs of small and medium entities and suggests possible amendments, in light of case law emphasising the need for directors to maintain a company’s solvency, where failure to do so can trigger personal liability for directors.

text: The Companies Act 1993 and Directors’ Duties: Small and medium entities are not well catered for In 1993 New Zealand passed into law the Companies Act. The Act was a combination of work done by the New Zealand Law Commission and the Justice Department. It was anticipated that the Act would provide all the information necessary to enable a prospective director to understand what was required in incorporating and winding up a company, as well as the requirements to be met whilst doing business using that form. This paper contends that the Act does not contain the Law Commission’s original intentions in terms of directors’ duties, compliance with which is argued to be the quid pro quo of the right to incorporate, where the company is a small or medium entity. The paper further contends that amendments to the Act are necessary to take account of the needs of small and medium entities and suggests possible amendments, in light of case law emphasising the need for directors to maintain a company’s solvency, where failure to do so can trigger personal liability for directors.

year: 2006-12

title: Wrestling with Biculturalism in Social Work Education

authors: Glubb-Smith, Kelly J.

subjects: Bicultural social work

abstract: When approached to write a piece on Donna Awatere’s (1984) book Māori Sovereignty from a social work perspective we seized the opportunity to reconsider her work. Revisiting the text after a 30-year-plus hiatus sparked a series of reflective conversations about how we wrestle with teaching biculturalism and our efficacy in preparing students for bicultural practice realities. This article draws upon our co-constructed narratives about what it means to be a social work educator in a bicultural practice landscape. Social work students graduate into an exceedingly complex practice environment fraught with tension about how to resolve inequities across the micro-to-macro continuum. The focus of this article is how Donna Awatere’s work is reflected in the tensions and responsibilities experienced when socialising students into the bicultural mission of social work practice in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

text: Wrestling with Biculturalism in Social Work Education When approached to write a piece on Donna Awatere’s (1984) book Māori Sovereignty from a social work perspective we seized the opportunity to reconsider her work. Revisiting the text after a 30-year-plus hiatus sparked a series of reflective conversations about how we wrestle with teaching biculturalism and our efficacy in preparing students for bicultural practice realities. This article draws upon our co-constructed narratives about what it means to be a social work educator in a bicultural practice landscape. Social work students graduate into an exceedingly complex practice environment fraught with tension about how to resolve inequities across the micro-to-macro continuum. The focus of this article is how Donna Awatere’s work is reflected in the tensions and responsibilities experienced when socialising students into the bicultural mission of social work practice in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

year: 2023-07-27