Census data also reflects a pattern of migration. Close to 17,000 people who had lived in Auckland in 2018 moved to Canterbury by 2023, and the region\u2019s 15- to 24-year-old population grew by 6% in the last census.<\/p>\n
One North Island expat is Eva Lloyd, a 28-year-old entrepreneur and model who has lived in a few major NZ cities before settling in Christchurch.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristchurch is growing quite quickly in terms of business and start-ups, and that was a major appeal to me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an incubator and feels bigger than Dunedin, with more going on, yet not quite at the point where it\u2019s bursting and claustrophobic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eva Lloyd, 28, says Christchurch is a buzzing with activity and opportunity.<\/p>\n
One thing that struck her the most was the \u201cactive\u201d lifestyle of the city, something she compared to the likes of Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first came to Christchurch, I scouted the city for one week, staying at different AirBnBs in different areas while doing some bartending at the Riccarton and Addington races to get a gauge on what the city was like before committing to moving here or not,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember driving up from Dunedin and feeling a strange feeling of excitement\/dread\/novelty, as I drove past Hagley Park and saw swathes of people running and cycling, thinking to myself, \u2018wow there\u2019s so many active people living here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christchurch\u2019s Hagley Park is great for general activity, and hosts large events like Electric Avenue each year. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u2018It just makes sense\u2019: Choice, price, and lifestyle<\/p>\n
According to OneRoof data from August<\/a>, the average property value for Christchurch sat at $797,000, the lowest of all the major cities except for Dunedin. Auckland City housing had an average price tag of $1,424,000, and Wellington averaged $943,000.<\/p>\n When asked what the main three selling points for Christchurch are, Ray White Papanui real estate agent Vanessa Golightly says choice, price and lifestyle.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect balance of a city,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s half an hour to get anywhere, we\u2019ve got good schools, housing\u2019s pretty affordable for what you can get, and there\u2019s an international airport so if you needed to work somewhere else or come and go, you can.\u201d<\/p>\n She said from the perspective of those moving to New Zealand for the first time from overseas or nationally, Christchurch was \u201calmost a no-brainer\u201d choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a big little city. There\u2019s enough going on to feel like you\u2019re part of a city, but it\u2019s not a hassle. You\u2019re also never sitting in two hours of traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n But while the city is an attractive place to buy, Golightly also notes that Christchurch has ” a bit of a boring story” when it comes to the sales market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have the same highs and lows as other places. When our market goes well, people maybe get $60-70k more than what they thought, and when the market is under performing they might get what they expect, possibly $20-$30k less.\u201d<\/p>\n There are also a few cost-associated caveats where the North Island is marginally better positioned.<\/p>\n Christchurch residential rates are generally a little higher than Auckland and Wellington. The Taxpayers\u2019 Union\u2019s Council Rates Comparison Chart lists Christchurch City Council rates at $2998, Auckland City Council at $2825, and Wellington City Council $2972.<\/p>\n Recent data also shows the region is being hit harder by insurance premiums than most others<\/a>. Comparison website Quashed reported that average house insurance quotes recently rose 18% in Canterbury, 13% in Wellington and 7% in Auckland.<\/p>\n According to the Insurance Council, areas prone to flooding and seismic activity (like Christchurch) will always cost more to protect than others, with premiums being based on a range of risk factors.<\/p>\n Lloyd, who is renting, says that in her experience, rent costs around the same as in Dunedin, but the quality of places in Christchurch tends to be \u201cnicer\u201d because there were a lot of new builds.<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be a lot more people here that own their own houses and are looking for flatmates to fill in rooms,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She\u2019s spoken to friends in Wellington who have rent that is significantly higher for worse living conditions. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of my friends was in a flat that had no furniture in the living room, a leaking laundry, cold and damp interior, and smelled of mould from the second you stepped into the house.\u201d<\/p>\n A business boom – and no trade offs<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the lifestyle prompting a move; it\u2019s also a fertile business breeding ground enticing industry movers and shakers to settle in the region.<\/p>\n With them, they\u2019re bringing their bright ideas. Tait Dench says new businesses are being established in Canterbury at twice the national rate.<\/p>\n The manufacturing sector is also leading the country in activity according to the NZ Business Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI), and exports through Canterbury\u2019s ports are up 12% year-on-year.<\/p>\n Pet food business Riverland<\/a>\u2018s general manager Michael Dance told Christchurch NZ last year he thought \u201ccompanies now have another option outside Auckland, and the connection to Christchurch is so easy\u201d.<\/p>\n Getting the business off the ground was a fast process, with factory construction beginning in June 2023 and operations starting in February 2024.<\/p>\n Dance noted that the scale of Christchurch \u2013 a place he described as a \u201cvibrant new city with modern facilities and the number of nearby attractions\u201d \u2013 is making it an attractive option. <\/p>\n \u201cThe world finds an excuse to come to Christchurch a lot more these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Infometrics data from 2024 also shows employment was up 3.3% from a year earlier, with growth higher than the New Zealand average of 2.2%.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s also the work-life balance that Dench says sets the city apart.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccess here doesn\u2019t come with the familiar trade-offs. You can succeed in business and raise a family, all while enjoying one of the most affordable, high-amenity lifestyles in the Southern Hemisphere,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are not many globally connected and growing cities in the world where you can work in leading innovative business in industries like aerospace or advanced manufacturing and drive home for lunch and get to your children\u2019s sport practice after work in the same day\u201d.<\/p>\n A food, sporting and events capital?<\/p>\n Viva contributor Jo Elwin<\/a> wrote earlier this month that Christchurch \u201cmay be Aotearoa New Zealand\u2019s new food capital\u201d citing how its redevelopment had brought \u201ca youthful energy to New Zealand\u2019s oldest city and, with an overwhelming number of restaurant and bar openings\u201d.<\/p>\n In fact, the number of Cuisine Good Food Guide hatted restaurants (one and two hats) doubled from four to eight in the Kaik\u014dura-Christchurch-Canterbury since they were last awarded.<\/p>\n Lloyd agrees Christchurch is humming with activity, explaining the range of attractions and how easy it is to access them was something that also drew her to the city.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favourite thing about living in Christchurch is the proximity to various activities around the city by transport. In 10-20 minutes, you can be at a University, the Port Hills, the beach, shopping mall, scenic walking\/hiking tracks, botanical gardens, the theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n The city has more than 45 large-scale art installations in the central city, including the tallest mural in New Zealand, and over 750 pieces of street art have been catalogued.<\/p>\n \u201cBringing arts and culture into the mix helps balance the major events portfolio and makes the city more attractive to a wider range of visitors and residents. The arts provide attractions for shoulder seasons but most importantly builds capability and capacity in the arts and cultural sector,\u201d says Christchurch NZ general manager of destination and attraction Loren Aberhart.<\/p>\n Major events hosted by the city include the World Buskers Festival, Flare Street Art Festival, Electric Avenue (which resulted in a visitor spend of almost $10.5 million<\/a>) and the recent addition of the Spring Fashion Week for Christchurch November 7-9 curated by New Zealand Fashion Week. In April 2026, Ruapuna Raceway will also host Supercars.<\/p>\n Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has a bold vision: to make Christchurch \u201cthe sporting and events capital of New Zealand\u201d, one he believes is close to being a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha, which is being delivered on time and on budget. When it opens next year, it will provide the most incredible venue for business, community, cultural, sports, and entertainment events and bring with it significant economic benefits,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will also have Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre opening later this year, the largest aquatic and indoor recreation venue of its kind in the country. It\u2019ll build on Canterbury\u2019s legacy as New Zealand\u2019s sporting powerhouse, and the best athletes in the world and our own world champions will use Parakiore.\u201d<\/p>\n The region also seems to give people more bang for their buck and more disposable income to spend on keeping themselves entertained. Based on Infometrics data, the housing affordability ratio (ratio of house prices to household incomes) in the year to June 2025 was 6.5 for Christchurch City and 7.2 for Auckland, meaning Christchurch residents were also likely to have more income to spend on going out or attending events.<\/p>\n On the flip side, it could be argued that Auckland and Wellington have also seen large strides in championing events, with Auckland\u2019s Eden Park given resource consent to host more concerts per year<\/a>, and Wellington having recently hosted large scale events like football friendly Wrexham v the Wellington Phoenix<\/a> and also hosting pop superstar Ed Sheeran<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n Crime, cold weather and the \u2018Capital of cool\u2019<\/p>\n Mauger says, in general, the city is seeing more and more people of all ages choose it as their new home for educational, business, and lifestyle opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been called New Zealand\u2019s most vibrant city and the \u2018capital of cool\u2019, as well as ranking highest in the 2024 Happy City Index,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n Data from the NZ Quality of Life Project 2024 seems to back this up. Eighty per cent of respondents from Christchurch rated their overall quality of life positively compared to 75% of respondents from Auckland.<\/p>\n Perhaps some of that comes down to the city\u2019s rebuild blending the past \u2013 and the future. Aberhart says 90% of the central city is brand new, the city still has the largest collection of heritage-listed buildings in New Zealand. <\/p>\n \u201cIn transforming [the city], we\u2019ve turned towards nature and let the sunlight in, opting for a low-rise city of exceptionally energy-efficient modern architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n But being the \u201ccapital of cool\u201d also means colder winter temperatures and the chance to get your tyre chains out every once and a while.<\/p>\n Niwa\u2019s climate and weather map notes that Christchurch\u2019s average winter daytime maximum air temperatures range from 7C to 14C, with the city even seeing a -2.8C reading this June owing to a polar blast. Auckland\u2019s winter temperatures generally range from 12C to 17C, and Wellington\u2019s sit around 10C to 14C.<\/p>\n And like all major metropolitan cities, crime is also something that still impacts people, as Lloyd unfortunately found out.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the downsides to Christchurch that I had not realised initially is that cars get stolen quite often. In the last year and a half, I have had my car windows smashed and my car stolen twice.\u201d Lloyd says.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I had known before moving to Christchurch what cars to avoid purchasing and where to avoid parking. Typically, staying in paid parking buildings is fine for any duration of time and free street parking is okay outside of late-night hours and not super remote.\u201d<\/p>\n The New Zealand Police crime snapshot tool notes that theft reports (which includes but is not limited to vehicle theft) in Christchurch were at 26,275 between July 2024 and 2025. While this was down on the previous reporting cycle, it was still higher than Wellington at 13,972.<\/p>\n Lloyd says it might pay for people to do some \u201clight due diligence\u201d and look at social media posts of people living in Christchurch to see gauge whether it would be the right fit for them. <\/p>\n \u201cChristchurch is lucky in that it has so many ambitious people trying to start something new that there are all sorts of run clubs, start-up clubs, round tables, pottery classes, horse riding lessons, trail running groups, German language exchange meetups, you name it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n For those still not convinced about making a move, Mauger had one simple piece of advice.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re thinking about moving here, come and visit, you won\u2019t want to leave\u201d.<\/p>\n Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Census data also reflects a pattern of migration. Close to 17,000 people who had lived in Auckland in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9331,78014,1863,6743,13990,1068,4487,2199,1888,13800,16773,305,221,78,263,124559,13457,5978,14771,3025,111,43,139,69,10903,3227,1111,8037,544,6182,427,4758,223,3608],"class_list":["post-203425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-chance","tag-2025s","tag-back","tag-became","tag-below","tag-catch","tag-christchurch","tag-city","tag-first","tag-giving","tag-great","tag-have","tag-how","tag-in","tag-lifestyle","tag-liveable","tag-look","tag-might","tag-missed","tag-most","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-popular","tag-published","tag-reading","tag-september","tag-some","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-taking","tag-the","tag-were"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}While houses are generally cheaper in Christchurch, a real estate agent notes the market doesn’t have the massive highs and lows of other cities. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
Business is booming in the Garden City. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
The port town of Lyttelton, Canterbury. Photo \/ 123RF<\/p>\n
The Terrace by Avon River in Christchurch. Photo \/ ChristchurchNZ<\/p>\n
One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch\u2019s new Stadium at Te Kaha, under construction. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger looks over the city. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n