Grandparents and empty-nesters are jumping on the bandwagon and selling their homes of many years to follow family members who are already settled across the ditch.
Real estate agents told OneRoof they have noticed yet another jump in the number of people moving to Australia either to follow family or because they think the cost of living is cheaper.
There are currently more than 200 properties for sale on OneRoof that mention the word Australia in the listing and a quarter of them are in Auckland.
Harcourts auctioneer Aaron Davis said the momentum of people moving to Australia was building all the time and it was always to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane.
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About a third of the owners he came across were moving there either to follow family or because there was a perception that the cost of living was cheaper, he said.
“The perception is that the cost of living is cheaper over there – higher wages, cheaper cost of living. So, if you can’t change your current circumstances in New Zealand that’s the easiest thing to do, isn’t it.”
However, Davis said some of the people who were doing it for financial reasons had bought at the peak so did not have much equity in their homes and were getting frustrated with the current market.
“It’s challenging for the middle class that bought at the top of the market, their interest rates have tripled from 2.5% to 7% and they are wanting someone to pay for their circumstances, not buy their home.”
Harcourts agent Harsh Kathuria, who specialises in South Auckland, estimated about 40% of the properties he was selling were because the owners were off to Australia.
Kathuria had expected the change in government last year to buck the trend but said this did not appear to be the case, and instead there seemed to be more people looking to move.
A six-bedroom home at 3 Cloghfin Place, in Flat Bush, Auckland, is on the market after the owners headed overseas. Photo / Supplied
The owners of a four-bedroom home at 92 Fisher Crescent, in Otara, were off to Perth after living there for 29 years.
Kathuria said two of the couple’s children had already moved there and they decided to join them and help with their grandchildren.
Their son, who had been visiting from Australia, told Kathuria that his parents could have a better and easier life over there and would not have to work as hard.
“That’s a bit of a worry or concern that comes to my brain personally that after 30 years of working hard and paying off your mortgage and being mortgage-free, you still want to go,” Kathuria said.
It was a similar situation for the owners of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 39 Israel Avenue, in Clover Park, who had decided to sell their home of 16 years. Their children had moved to Brisbane six months ago and they wanted to join them.
Several homeowners had already moved across the ditch and had tasked Barfoot & Thompson salesperson Kapil Rana with selling their properties.
A young couple is selling their unit on Rito Place, in Papatoetoe, to move to Australia for better wages and a higher standard of living. Photo / Supplied
The owners of 3 Cloghfin Place, in Flat Bush, had moved to Australia with their teenage children before the auction, while the sale of a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house on Browns Road this week would be welcome news for the sellers who were also there.
“Houses are cheaper and income is higher there so they feel the living costs is less compared to New Zealand and they can’t cope with the high mortgages given the houses are so expensive here,” Rana said.
Ray White salesperson Monika Maynard agreed that people were over the interest rate hikes and the cost of living in New Zealand and thought the “grass was greener on the other side”.
She’s selling a two-bedroom unit at 2/3 Rito Place, in Papatoetoe, for a young couple who believed they could have a better life there. “Heading to Australia – no plan b, must be sold,” the listing said.
“The pay and the standard of living are the two things that seem to sway them.”
Maynard is also about to list a property for a client who had been living in Australia for several years and had no plans to return.
“What’s happening with the economy and everything else, it’s just swayed their decision to not come back.”
While Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney had previously been the main cities people had their sights on, Maynard had noticed a lot more people were now looking at Perth.
“I think it’s because in Perth there’s not as big a population over there so it’s better to be able to find [a] job and I think the pay in Perth is a little bit better than other places in Australia or so I’ve heard.”
Harcourts agent David Ding, who spoke about the trend of people moving to Australia almost two years ago, said it was the “new norm” and didn’t surprise him anymore.
“It used to be upsizing, downsizing, retirement village – now we have a new category: going to Aussie.”
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