Welcome to the February edition of our newsletter.

This month we introduce you to the Local Loyal app developed locally Paula Fore  Try it! free to download; and full of great rewards! Local and Loyal puts Whanganui businesses in the palm of your hand!
Local and Loyal Whanganui is a one stop convenient app to help you discover deals, specials, promotions and more.
Developed for the residents and visitors to Whanganui, the Local and Loyal Whanganui Mobile App is a family friendly safe space where you’ll have the convenience of all your favourite local businesses right at your fingertips.You can download this by searching Local Loyal Whanganui at the Apple app store(Apple devices) or Google play(Android devices).

Download the app, get connected and be rewarded!! A great way for local business to interact with the local community and reinforce support for Whanganui business.

Whanganui’s economy continues to track steady.
To use the navigation aids please use the highlighted red areas to navigate to different sections of the newsletter and use the links  ” (Top)” to get back to the top of this newsletter.

We would really like to know your thoughts please follow this link and let us know what you think about this newsletter it is important to us that we provide a useful tool for our business community.

Business Matters

• Treasury reports that key economic data released in February suggest positive momentum from the September quarter continued into the final quarter of 2015, although at a slightly slower pace of growth.
• NZ property market -5,048 dwellings sold in New Zealand in January 2016, up 4.3% on January 2015 and down 31% on December, although on a seasonally adjusted basis the number of dwelling sold rose by 9.7% compared to January 2015, and fell 5.1% compared to December
• Retail card sales for New Zealand have shown slightly slower growth for the same period last year the with only accommodation and takeaways over the 5% growth level compared to the previous year .
• New Vehicle  sales in New Zealand have continued to grow and in recent months the 12 month moving average growth has increased at a slower rate..
• Our traffic light system gives a snapshot of the current economy. In January the trend has remained stable with indications of growth still the dominant factor although at a slower rate.
• Whanganui’s economy:- very encouraging house sales volumes with a 49% growth in sales and sales of new vehicles  still picking up slightly, buildingconsents  have remained steady to flat caused by is a fair amount stock of buildings in the commercial,industrial and residential markets. Electronic Card sales were still buoyant. The number of bed nights has been down on a month on month basis but still the 12 month figure is up on last year.
• The Whanganui District Council invites tenders from suitable forest harvesting and marketing agents for the impending harvest of approximately 50,000 m3 of mature Pinus radiata trees as well as smaller areas of other exotic species.
• Expressions of interest sought: We have had conversations with a number of businesses regarding the attraction of skilled staff to Whanganui we are keen to support this please let us know if you are looking to attract skilled staff or interested in promoting your business through a targeted campaign collectively. Please contact us to let us know your thoughts.

Happening in Whanganui…

Please remember the Poppy ball and make use of the IRD courses which they present.
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Chris Heywood

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(Top)
Executive Summary
Key economic data released in February suggest positive momentum from the September quarter continued into the final quarter of 2015, although at a slightly slower pace of growth. Employment rebounded 0.9% in the December quarter, leading the unemployment rate to fall from 6.0% to 5.3%, and, while hourly earnings growth was only moderate, total labour incomes grew 6.0% in the year. That said, the unemployment rate fall appears to be overstated and associated with volatile participation.

First Home Buyers Active Over Summer Break.

Summary

• 5,048 dwellings sold in New Zealand in January 2016, up 4.3% on January 2015 and down 31% on December, although on a seasonally adjusted basis the number of dwelling sold rose by 9.7% compared to January 2015, and fell 5.1% compared to December.
• National median price of $448,000, up $22,000 (+5.2%) on January 2015 and down 3.7% on December
• New record national median prices in Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki, with Canterbury/Westland equalling its record median set in April 2015.
• An 18% rise in the number of sales over $1 million between January 2016 and January 2015 — from 360 to 423
• 20,065 dwellings sold by auction in the 12 months to January 2016, representing 22.1% of all sales, an increase of 45% in the number sold by auction in the 12 months to January 2015.

Read the Full report here…

source REINZ

Retail card sales for New Zealand have shown slower growth with only accommodation and takeaways over the 5% growth level compared to the previous year . Fuel sales still recorded a negative growth which is a positive trend as petrol prices have plummeted to their lowest levels in a long time contributing significantly to lower inflation.
Top Categories were takeaways, bars cafes and restaurants and Accommodation.

 

Source Marketview

NZ New Vehicle Sales (Top)
New Vehicle sales in New Zealand have continued to grow and in recent months the 12 month moving average growth has increased at a slower rate. In January 2015 a total of 9010 new cars were sold and in January 2016 the figure was down to 8899 a small decline of 1.2%.This is the first decline recorded  in the last 12 months. Since October 2015 we has seen signs of a slowing growth trend.

Sales volumes rose 18% compared to January 2015, with sales rising 49% in Wanganui, 27% in Manawatu Country and 22% in Palmerston North. Compared to December sales volumes fell 18%, with sales falling 39% in Feilding, 31% in Wanganui and 12% in Levin, however, sales volumes rose by 27% in Manawatu Country.
The median price across the region was steady at $220,000 compared to January 2015 with prices rising 10% in Feilding and 3% in Wanganui, but falling 19% in Levin. Compared to December the median price fell $20,000 (-8%), with prices falling 30% in Manawatu Country, 28% in Levin and 12% in Wanganui.
The number of days to sell eased by 15 days compared to December, from 29 days in December to 44 days in January. Compared to January 2015 the number of days to sell improved by eight days. Over the past 10 years the median number of days to sell across the Manawatu/Wanganui region in January has averaged 52 days.
REINZ noted that, “First home buyers continue to be very active in the market with increasing numbers of properties under multiple offers from first home buyers, although the number of investors appears to be declining. Inventory levels continue to fall putting pressure on vendor expectations.”
Graph Commentary The median price trend is now easing, with the volume trend continuing to rise. The days to sell trend is now also rising. The overall trend for the region is now improving.

The top category this month was Appliances with Bars cafes and restaurants still showing continued growth.

Top 3 sectors were

Whanganui had better year on year electronic card sales than most of the TLA’s in the Manawatu Whanganui Region and still above the New Zealand Spend by 0.3%

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In January 2016 new vehicle sales were up on the previous year again with 88 new vehicles sold as opposed to 72 sold in the previous year pushing the moving average grow back to 2.2% there are large fluctuations in sales from month to month but the overall trend is still in positive territory. The trend over the longer term still remains positive in spite of the erratic nature of sales in this sector.

In January 2016 there were 32 Building Consent applications. Based on a 12 month moving average we have seen a very slight improvement in number of consents passed with the value of consents indicating decline. The long term outlook is still not clear but showing some signs of settling in the region of $ 4 million per annum.

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Tourism (Top)