Tararua’s economy growth outpacing rest of the country

'' We’ve been very successful in attracting visitors and the majority of our new residents have been visitors first''

Tararua’s economy has made an impressive start to the year, easily outpacing the national economy, the latest Infometrics’ report says.

The impressive start to 2019 for Tararua District’s economy follows strong population growth, a robust primary sector, buoyant consumer spending and a growing tourism sector.

The Infometrics’ provisional GDP growth estimate for the district was 3 per cent for the March 2019 year, easily outpacing the 2.5 per cent national average.

Tararua’s population grew 2.6 per cent in the March 2019 year and remains above the national average, as people continue to be drawn to the district’s affordable housing and quality lifestyle.

With Tararua now on the tourist map, spending by tourists has increased 9 per cent in the April 2019 year, while guest nights grew 8.1 per cent in the March 2019 year.

And it’s this visitor/tourism growth which is the key to driving strong population growth, Tararua District Council’s economic development and communication manager Mark Maxwell said.

“We’ve been very successful in attracting visitors and the majority of our new residents have been visitors first,” he said.

Maxwell said up to 80 per cent of new residents in Tararua had holidayed here before becoming residents.

This population growth is driving house sales which grew 8.8 per cent in the March 2019 year compared to a national average of 1.4 per cent and the demand for homes is pushing up prices. House prices in Tararua have been rising since 2015, reaching 16.8 per cent in the March quarter compared with a year earlier.

The average house value in Tararua district now stands at $218,143 for the March, 2019 year, but is still less than one-third of the $683,516 national average.

And the strong local economy is creating jobs. The district’s unemployment rate remains at 4.3 per cent for the March 2019 year, virtually the same as the 4.2 per cent national average.

The average number of Jobseeker Support recipients rose 2.1 per cent in the March 2019 year, but this rise was probably driven more by the easing of conditions under which a person can receive a benefit than labour market conditions and compares well against the backdrop of a 7.6 per cent rise nationwide. Electronic card spending on retail purchases in the Tararua District grew 8.1 per cent in the March 2019 year, double that of the national average of 4.1 per cent.

A deep gutter accessing the pedestrian crossing by Huia Range School that has been trapping mobility scooters was raised at a Dannevirke Community Board coffee meeting this week.