While the housing market remains strong and house prices should rise a bit further, the latest immigration numbers suggest now is the time to bail out, according to Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander.
Monday, February 9th 2004, 7:38AM
by The Landlord
The figures showed a net gain of 1,500 people in December which Alexander says is below the average December gain for the last 10 years of 1,718.
"Extrapolate that result for the year and you get a net gain of 11,000 people versus the 34,909 gained over 2003 and 38,200 gained over 2002," he says.
What’s worse, the rate of turn in the figures is accelerating "so one cannot rule out no net gain this year and a loss of people over 2005, especially with the world economy looking strong."
