Economic Insights

Like throughout the rest of the pandemic Kāpiti Coast district has done well out of the shift towards working from home, which tends to benefit local retailing.

Although the opening of Transmission Gully on March 31st was too late to affect the numbers in the March quarter, expectations of greater connectivity to the rest of the Wellington region may already be boosting economic indicators. (see Ref 1)

The Kāpiti Coast GDP grew by 7.4% over the past 12 months. Compared to the Wellington Region’s growth rate of 5.1% and the National growth rate of 5.2%, it appears that the Kāpiti Coast was affected a little less by the COVID-19 restrictions than the rest of New Zealand. (see Ref 2 & 3) 

Note however that although consumer spending is also up by 7.4%, the real growth in consumption is much weaker as inflation rose at 6.9% in the March quarter.

Ref 1:  Infometrics, December 2021, Quarterly Economic Monitor Report for Kāpiti Coast District.

Ref 2: This statement is based on March 2022 data from Infometrics and Marketview, and considers the implications of the various COVID lockdowns in New Zealand during the past year. New Zealand was in level 4 lockdown 17 -31 August 2021 and level 3 till 7 September – except Auckland

Ref 3:More details regarding the dates of the various lockdowns can be found here: History of the COVID-19 Alert System | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz)

Employment (place of residence)

• Employment for residents living in Kāpiti Coast District was up 2.7% for the year to March 2022, compared to a year earlier.
• Growth was the same as in New Zealand (2.7%) and was higher than in Wellington Region (2.3%).

Traffic Flow

Like throughout the rest of the pandemic, the Kāpiti Coast district has done well out of the shift towards working from home, which tends to benefit local retailing. Although the opening of Transmission Gully on March 31st was too late to affect the numbers in the March quarter, expectations of greater connectivity to the rest of the Wellington region may already be boosting economic indicators.

Traffic flows in Kapiti Coast District increased by 2.6% over the year to March 2022, compared to a year earlier. This compares with increases of 1.8% in New Zealand and 0.9% in the Wellington Region. 

House Values

Strong growth in residential consents of 66% over the 12 months to March 2022 may already illustrate peoples’ expectations of the benefits Transmission Gully will bring. However, it is likely that high house values on the Kāpiti Coast are the main culprit of strong residential building intentions, with average house values in the Kāpiti district reaching just shy of one million dollars.

House values for Kāpiti Coast district in the March quarter were up 12.9% from a year ago, which is a strong growth rate, although a slowdown from peak growth of 36% in the June 2021 quarter. Growth was higher than in Wellington Region (12.8%) and was lower than in New Zealand (17.7%).

The average current house value was $973,029 in Kāpiti Coast District in March 2022. This compares with $1,111,306 in Wellington Region and $1,035,216 in New Zealand.

On top of the large volume of residential work in the pipeline, $39m worth of non-residential consents were issued in the March 2022 year, more than double the value of consents for the year before.

House sales in Kāpiti Coast District decreased by 11.1% in the year to March 2022, compared to year earlier. This compares with decreases of 6.3% in Wellington Region and 9.3% in New Zealand.
A total of 961 houses were sold in Kāpiti Coast District in the 12 months ended March 2022. This compares with the ten-year average of 1,107.

Tourism Expenditure

Tourism activity has held up well, all things considered, although the uneven effects of COVID-19 make the numbers harder to assess than normal. Visitor spending over the 12 months to March 2022 rose 7.1%pa nationally, up from the 3.9%pa annual growth record in the December 2021 year. However, part of this higher growth comes from comparing the past year (including the strong first half of 2021) to the period from the original lockdown and into 2019, when domestic tourism wasn’t nearly as strong. As the current visitor spend available doesn’t fully account for international spending, the growth presented likely provides an overly optimistic view of visitor spending activity.

Total tourism expenditure in Kāpiti Coast District increased by 8% in the year to March 2022, compared to a year earlier. This compares with increases of 8.9% in Wellington Region and 7.1% in New Zealand.

 Total tourism expenditure was approximately $108 million in Kāpiti Coast District during the year to March 2022, which was up from $100 million a year ago.

Detailed spending figures for the Kāpiti Coast

Below are tables summarising the changes in spending on the Kāpiti Coast for the period Mar 2022 - Mar 2022, compared to Mar 2021 - Mar 2021:

Where on the Kāpiti Coast money is spent on the various categories: 

Spending at each location by customer origin:

What consumers from each origin are spending on:

 Source: card spend data from Marketview