The Canterbury rebuild and an improving New Zealand labour market are prompting fewer people to leave for Australia, Statistics New Zealand figures out yesterday show.
New Zealand had more arrivals than departures in May, with a net 1700 migrants arriving, the highest net gain since 1800 in January 2010.
Acting government statistician Dallas Welch said the increased net gain of migrants over the past five months was mainly due to fewer New Zealand citizens departing to Australia. There was also an increase in arrivals during the period.
The seasonally-adjusted net loss of 1900 migrants to Australia in May was the smallest net loss since 1600 left in July 2010.
''The latest net loss to Australia is well down on the recent high of 3600 recorded in September 2011.''
In the year ended May, New Zealand had a net gain of 6200 migrants compared with a net loss of 3700 in May 2012.
Otago, Canterbury and Auckland were the only regions that had net gains of international migrants. The Canterbury region's net gain of 2600 migrants in May this year compared with a net loss of 2500 in May last year, Ms Welch said.
ASB economist Daniel Smith said the impact of the Canterbury rebuild could be seen in international migration flows to and from the region.
Permanent and long-term arrivals had increased steadily since early 2012 and were now at high levels, by historical standards.
There had also been a sharp fall in the number of people migrating out of the region, with departures now at the lowest levels since 2003. That suggested residents were encouraged by the region's future prospects, he said.
Stronger migration inflows would place more pressure on supply-constrained housing markets in some areas of the country and that was especially true in Christchurch.
However, the number of migrants arriving in Auckland had not risen significantly over the past two years and did not appear to be a large driver of house price increases in that region, Mr Smith said.
Westpac economist Felix Delbruck said a positive net migration trend was now well entrenched and seemed set to strengthen further as employment conditions in Australia continued to soften and the Canterbury rebuild drew in more migrants.
''At the margin, this will boost domestic demand and the housing market, although low interest rates remain by far the biggest driver of the current housing upswing.''
