Marlborough income on par with rest of NZ

It’s relatively good news if you live in Marlborough, as average income sits on par with the national average while house prices sit below.

The latest Infometrics economic report, released to the Marlborough District Council states the average household income in Marlborough reached $111,839 just below the New Zealand average of $113,221.

Marlborough District Council strategic planning and economic development manager Neil Henry said considering the average New Zealand household income included regions such as Wellington and Auckland, it was positive for Marlborough.

‘‘If you took those [Wellington and Auckland] out, we’re [Marlborough] much higher than the New Zealand average,’’ Henry said.

‘‘If you took Auckland out, the average New Zealand household income is $100,000 and we’re sitting at $112,000.

‘‘That flows through to things like housing affordability, because our houses for a long time have been comparatively more affordable than other parts of the country. It’s a real positive for those living in Marlborough.’’

To compare, he pointed to Hawkes Bay’s where average household income was $99,000, Nelson was $98,000 and Tasman was $79,000.

‘‘The average rents compared to average weekly household income is also lower it’s 16 per cent for Marlborough and 19 per cent for New Zealand,’’ Henry said.

Average income per person was $56,497 which was up 4.8 per cent on 2018.

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce chief executive Hans Neilson said if you looked at Marlborough’s mean income, it had steadily increased over the past 10 years.

‘‘We’ve done really well in that respect, compared to places like Auckland, our cost of living is a lot lower,’’ Neilson said.

However, ‘‘business units’’ fell 1.2 per cent with 87 fewer business, meanwhile New Zealand wide it grew 1.8 per cent.

‘‘The 10-year average for business growth is zero per cent,’’ Nielson said.

‘‘Based on these numbers we need to be better support for business, how and what that looks like is something we can collectively work on.’’

He said he expected the Government’s recent $80 billion infrastructure would impact Marlborough because nothing was being spent here.

‘‘Like anywhere, if you inject money into an economy you’ll see it jump and Marlborough has missed out so I suspect we’ll feel an impact because of that.’’

The Infometrics report stated the biggest sector in Marlborough was wine, at $550 million.

‘‘Horticulture and Fruit Growing made the largest contribution to overall growth in Marlborough Region between 2018 and 2019. The industry grew by 13.1 per cent over the year,’’ the report said.

Average household income: $111,839 Business units: 7,104 down 1.2 per cent Average earnings: $56,497 up 4.8 per cent GDP: up 2.8 per cent to $3,057m

Tourism contribution to GDP: $222m Population: 49,200 up 0.8 per cent Employment: up 1.2 per cent

Average house price: $472,371