Commercial property a major contributor to Waikato’s economy

New research shows commercial property is a major contributor to Waikato’s economy

Property Council Waikato Branch commissioned the Economic Impact Assessment of the Property Industry in Hamilton and the Waikato Report, revealing the property industry contributed 14.2% of Hamilton’s GDP and 20.1% of its employment in 2013.

Branch President, Rob Dol, says the information demonstrates the importance of the commercial property sector to Waikato’s overall performance and will empower us in driving policy issues forward for our region.

“We are pleased to see cold, hard facts revealing what we have known for years. The number of jobs created by our industry is a significant contributor to Waikato’s economic growth and prosperity. As the report shows, the flow on effect of this industry is more than most industries as evidenced in the residential construction and non-residential construction areas.”

The report was conducted by BERL and presents estimates of the direct economic impact of the property industry in the Waikato region, Hamilton City and the various local authority districts.

These are measured in terms of the expenditure, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment of the various building, construction, real estate and other businesses operating in the industry.

The key findings:

The property industry in the Waikato directly employs 16,816 fulltime equivalent (FTE) people. This is 10.3% of all FTEs in the region.

The industry’s GDP has started to grow again, following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)

Employment in the industry has yet to recover from the effects of the GFC, but it is still much higher than it was a decade ago

Almost half the industry’s employment and GDP is in Hamilton

The share of total employment accounted for by the property industry ranges from 11.5% in Taupo District to 5.7% in Otorohanga District

Over the last decade, the industry has grown fastest in Matamata-Piako District, but it has declined most in neighbouring Hauraki District Estimates of the total economic impact of the industry reveal its indirect and induced impacts on other industries.

The following facts stand out:

The property industry in Hamilton contributed more than a billion dollars in GDP to the city’s economy and provided nearly 15,000 full time jobs in 2013- equivalent to 14.2% of the city’s GDP and 20.1% of its employment

As a whole the industry contributed nearly $3 billion in GDP to the region’s economy and provided nearly 40,000 full time jobs in 2013- equivalent to 16.4% of the region’s GDP and 24.4% of its employment

The property industry has a larger multiplier effect than many other industries. The effect is particularly strong in the residential construction and non-residential construction areas

The implication is that stimulating the property industry would have a larger impact on the wider economy than would be associated with a stimulus to most other industries

END.

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