Auckland’s economy has slipped slightly over the past year, and that slowdown is flowing through to Hibiscus Coast households, according to new figures from the Auckland Council Social and Economic Research and Evaluation Team’s December 2025 economic update.

In the year to September 2025, Auckland’s GDP was 0.8 percent lower than a year earlier, compared with a 0.3 percent fall elsewhere in New Zealand.

Retail spending tells a similar story.

For the year to September, Auckland retail sales were 0.9 percent lower, with the rest of the country down 0.1 percent.

That is better than the deeper falls seen from 2021 to 2024, but spending is still slightly negative despite more people living here, so activity has not yet returned to pre-Covid strength.

Housing remains tough.

The median Auckland house price in October was $1,033,000, about a third below the 2021 peak but still close to last year’s level.

Sales volumes are trending up from their 2023 trough yet sit well below their 2021 peak.

Rents are around $667 a week on average in Auckland, about 3 percent lower than a year ago and roughly the same as ten years ago once you adjust for inflation.

New dwelling consents are slowly recovering, up 8 percent on a year ago but still well below 2022 highs, while non-residential building and imports show the same “off the peak but past the trough” pattern.

For Coastie commuters, workers and small businesses, it all points to 2026 feeling a little less tight, even if any real pick-up will be slow.

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