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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, Mar 23, 2002: Asians are coming to New Zealand in numbers not seen since the mid-1990s and the latest figures show that most of the migrants are Chinese or Indian. In a reversal of trends, the inflow of people outnumbers the outflow, sparking a real estate boom. According to Statistics New Zealand, the number of people coming to live in New Zealand outnumbered those leaving by 22,000 in the year to February 2002, the Dominion newspaper reported. The immigrants included 11,900 from China, 4,800 from India, 3,000 from South Africa and 2,900 from Britain. However, the composition of Asian immigrants had changed. The middle-aged wealthy couples, who were keen on buying houses in the 1990s, have been replaced by 15- to 30-year-old students wanting to rent. The rental demand has affected the Auckland property market and bidding wars are now common among people wanting to rent in inner-city Auckland. The turnaround in migration figures followed last year’s ‘brain-drain’ outcry which fuelled debate and resulted in a national Knowledge Wave conference that discussed ways to solve the problem.

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