and household estimates and projections demographic drivers of residential demand Visitor guest nights (domestic and international), by region (commercial accommodation) To supplement population data for areas with high visitor populations Permanent and long-term migration To supplement the population estimates that are produced between Censuses Number of building consents for new dwellings, by floor area Additional information on the composition of new supply, to help assess the extent to which it is keeping pace with demand for different sizes of dwellings Number of resource consents processed, by district and region Additional information on residential supply response Number of eligible applicants for social housing, by household composition, ethnicity, age, number of bedrooms, district Additional information on the composition of demand for dwellings (new demand for social housing) – register shows eligible applicants for social housing Ratio of housing costs to income; or residual income after housing costs Additional information on the affordability of housing, from the perspective of home owners and renters See Covec and MR Cagney (2016), chapter 7 for details Household overcrowding index Additional information on the extent to which supply is keeping pace with demand Note: a detailed report has been produced for Auckland but this index has not been updated for other regions for the 2013 Census results Other data sources (may incur costs) Dwelling sale prices per square metre of dwelling Construction costs vary between building types; this measure provides a standardised measure of prices and may provide a better indication of underlying price trends Can be derived from data on size of dwellings sold and sale prices or Days that a property takes to sell, inventories of unsold houses, listings Additional measures used by real estate agents that provide indications of the liquidity of the residential market CoreLogic’s Buyer classification Additional information on composition of demand, as disaggregates dwelling sales by first home buyers, existing owner movers and investors, and location of where the investor is based/mover is from Office rents, vacancy rates, and office space per worker Retail rents and vacancy rates Industrial land prices, rents, and Additional measures published by real estate companies to track office, retail, and industrial property trends. Publicly available reports often provide information on trends and
Business property vacancy rates CBD office vacancy rates Trends in CBD office vacancy rates indicate whether the current supply of office space is sufficient to meet demand or whether it is growing constrained Prime vacancy rates in the Wellington CBD remain relatively low and have fallen since 2014. Secondary vacancy rates for buildings have also fallen since 2012, although they remain considerably higher than in the mid-2000s. It is likely that vacancy rates will continue to be low in the short term while Wellington recovers from the shock to supply caused by the earthquake. Price information on trends in office rents could be used to supplement this data, as rising rents provide additional evidence of a lack of supply. Retail vacancy rates Trends in retail vacancy rates indicate whether the current supply of retail space is sufficient to meet demand or whether it is becoming constrained Retail vacancy rates rose in most major retail precincts in the Greater Wellington region in 2016. This suggests that the supply of retail space is not becoming more limited relative to demand. Retail vacancy rates varied significantly throughout Wellington – they were highest in Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt and lowest in Petone, Paraparaumu, and the Wellington CBD. This indicates spatial variation in retail demand that may contribute to localised supply shortfalls. Price information on trends in retail rents could be used to supplement this data, as rising rents provide additional evidence of a lack of supply. Industrial vacancy rates Trends in industrial vacancy rates indicate whether the current supply of industrial space is sufficient to meet demand or whether it is becoming constrained Wellington’s industrial vacancy rates fell in 2014 and 2015. This indicates that there is growing demand for industrial space or, alternatively, conversions of vacant industrial space to other uses. Industrial vacancy rates rose significantly after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and remain at elevated levels relative to the This indicates that overall industrial space capacity is likely to meet current demand, albeit with the potential for mismatches for some types of industrial sites. Price information on trends in industrial land prices could be used to supplement this data, as rising land prices provide additional evidence of a lack of supply and/or competition from retail and housing uses. Part six: Using price efficiency indicators This part provides guidance to local authorities on meeting the requirements of NPS-UDC policy PB7. It explains the price efficiency indicators in the dashboard on the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s website, and outlines how they can be used.