New Zealand has become a world leader in condo developments and a world centre for residential developments, but its population is still growing.
According to figures released last week, more than 2,200 new condominium units have been completed or under construction in New Japan.
This is the highest rate in the world and nearly double the rate in Australia, which has just 626 units built.
It is also the highest percentage of new units built in a single country in the last decade, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
New Zealand is also one of the few countries in the developed world that has yet to pass a law that would allow people to rent out their homes to investors.
In 2017, there were just 728 housing units registered in the country, according the National Housing Federation.
That number is likely to rise in the coming years as a result of new developments.
“New Zealand is one of those countries where there’s a lack of infrastructure to manage these new developments,” says Michael McQuillan, director of housing policy at the National Building Industry Association.
“We’re still in the process of establishing what’s the proper planning and zoning system for new housing.
And that’s not easy to do when there are new developments going on every day.”
New Zealand’s condo boom, and its rapid growth, has been the subject of a recent documentary film called “The Real New Zealand”.
It tells the story of three young New Zealanders living and working in a condominium in the Auckland suburb of Hutt Valley.
The film also includes interviews with developers, local politicians, and residents.
“They’re living in the same apartment as the developer,” says filmmaker Mark Hutton.
“And they’re trying to sell their property to a developer who’s not even planning to build it.”
One of the three young residents, who has not been named, says they’ve spent their lives living in condos.
“I’ve been here for 13 years,” he tells the film’s camera.
“There’s been an explosion of condo development in Auckland.”
The other two young New Zealander, who also does not identify, say they have spent their whole lives living and travelling in the city.
“If you go down Hutt, you see lots of new condos,” one of them says.
“You can walk to any one of these places and you can rent out your whole flat.”
One resident of a condo in Hutt says the condo boom has been a blessing.
“It’s made it easier for me to build my own home,” the man says.
A housing bubble?
Property values are skyrocketing in New England, and condo development has become one of many factors fuelling the boom.
The median price of a New England condo has jumped from $852,000 in 2012 to $1.8 million in 2017, according in a 2017 report from the New York State Housing Authority.
The housing market is also experiencing an upturn.
The New England Association of Realtors (NEAR) predicts condo prices will continue to climb at about double the pace of the national average over the next five years.
In the same period, house prices are forecast to rise by 3.3 per cent, while rents are forecast by 2.9 per cent.
New Zealand condo owners also have more disposable income than residents of other major cities in the US.
The NEAR report shows that New Zealand residents earn $24,000 more than residents in most other major US cities.
According for the latest available data from the National Property Weekly Survey (NPS), a quarterly survey by the NPA, median incomes for New Zealand property owners are higher than in most cities in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
The NPA estimates that more than half of the New Zealand residential units that were built in 2017 were owned by New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.
