‘Christchurch, Christchurch, Christchurch’: The great Wellington exodus has some moving south

Saturday, 31 August 2024

Christchurch has become an appealing city to settle down in, with house prices and rent cheaper than in Wellington and Auckland.

“Christchurch, Christchurch, Christchurch.”

Real estate agent Andrea Skews is straight into the reasons her clients are fleeing Wellington.

“Houses are a lot cheaper in Christchurch. A lot.”

The stress of living in an increasingly unaffordable capital city – particularly for the 6000-plus public servants without work – is evident in the exodus out of it.

Wellington is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many.

Skews said apartment listings in Wellington were through the roof as laid-off public servants offloaded their city sanctums.

Trade Me’s most recent Property Price Index data shows the average asking price in Wellington city in July was hovering around the $865,000 mark, while Christchurch’s was $678,000.

The same went for houses. Skews reckoned the prospect of selling at a loss was not enough to spook some owners into staying in the capital.

“There’s people who need to sell – it might be that interest rates are too high for them – and they realise they’d be better off selling here and buying something cheaper down in Christchurch.”

First home buyers Rebecca Stewart and Josh Fuller recently went unconditional on a property in Mairehau, Christchurch, paying $640,000 for a three-bedroom home with a 15% deposit.

Real estate agent Andrea Skews says the affordability of Christchurch is making it a destination new home for Wellingtonians forced to sell up.

“It’s a new chapter and we’re looking forward to being able to put down roots and make memories in this home,” Stewart said.

Skews said some Wellingtonians were looking to rent out their properties until prices improved, though that could be a double-edged sword with a flood of rentals hitting the market.

Wellington had a 55% rise in new listings in July, with 324 on the market, up from 182 in July last year.

As the shift south continues, apartment rental prices in the Garden City were on the rise with TradeMe’s latest Rental Price Index showing an 8.3% increase over the past month.

Wellington public servants Te Hinemoa Hiroki-Tuiono, left, and partner Aaron Moss are heading overseas after taking voluntary redundancy.

Wellington meanwhile saw a 2.9% decrease for town houses, although all weekly rents in Wellington remained an average $650, compared to $580 in Christchurch - making it the most affordable of the main centres for renting a home. The Press reported on Friday that rents were flat and the number of new tenancies was at its lowest since August 2021.

When the coalition government’s redundancy axe swung, Te Hinemoa Hiroki-Tuiono and partner Aaron Moss, both 26, opted to take voluntary redundancy and were taking flight to Asia next week.

“We did the maths and, confoundingly, it's cheaper to travel abroad than to stay in Wellington,” Moss said.

“It is utterly bleak,” Hiroki-Tuiono said.

Pete, 48, an unemployed contractor who asked we not use his real name, had his six-month contract with a government agency end in June.

The average asking price in July in Christchurch was around $678,000, compared to in Wellington city at $865,000, according to Trade Me. (file photo)

While he recognised the boom and bust nature of self-employment, he was considering moving to the Gold Coast with his wife and two kids.

Ben Pearson is a director and GM of BeyondRecruitment. The public sector job cuts and stalled economy have had both a personal and professional impact on him, with considerably fewer vacancies.

It would mean selling their house, or renting it out, but the family saw no reason to stay in Wellington.

“It’s grim, really grim. I’ve been visiting friends who live elsewhere and I don’t think they really understand how dire it is in Wellington at the moment.”

Unemployment figures bear that out. The annual average unemployment rate in Wellington City was 4.2% in the year to June 2024, up from 3.2% in the previous 12 months, and almost at Covid levels.

The unemployment rate for Canterbury across all age groups in June was also 4.2%. However, monthly employment data from Statistics NZ showed employment in Canterbury was increasing in June compared to the same time in 2023. Canterbury saw the largest job increase of any region over the past year, adding 2400 jobs, well above Auckland’s 1000-job increase, despite Auckland’s labour market being significantly larger. Though population growth had outstripped job creation.

Compared to last year, job listings for roles in government and council in Wellington had plummeted, 43.7% year on year, according to TradeMe. Conversely, the number of job applications for government and council jobs in Wellington surged by 119.2% year on year.

Ben Pearson, director and general manager at Beyond Recruitment, said higher interest rates and uncertainty about the future had led businesses to be more cautious about hiring.

“We operate out of Auckland and Christchurch as well, and those areas are definitely affected by economic conditions.

“But it’s probably not quite as grim as in Wellington.”