Inner-city apartment dweller myths dispelled

The myth that Auckland's inner-city apartments are full of Asian students has been shattered by the first comprehensive analysis of Census returns for the central city.

The Statistics New Zealand analysis shows that 92 per cent of people aged 15 and over who were living in the inner city at the 2001 Census were working, only 1 per cent less than the national average of 93 per cent.

Only 18 per cent were fulltime students, and most of them were working as well.

Asians were heavily over-represented, filling 31 per cent of the places in inner-city flats compared with their 7 per cent share of the national population.

But 65 per cent of the inner-city's 5283 apartment dwellers were Pakeha.

Union organiser Enzo Giordani, 29, and partner, Gina Porter, 22, a secretary, said the figures tallied with their experience since moving into a one-bedroom flat in Upper Queen St in February. Their rent is $275 a week.

"There is a student element, but it's hard to know really if people are students or just young professionals. I've flatted in the suburbs and found partying far more of a problem there," said Mr Giordani.

"Our block is pretty multicultural. There's a couple of Asian families, a couple of East Indian groups of people, but the Pakeha are there too - about 50 per cent, I'd guess."

Ms Porter said the couple shifted into town from separate flats on the North Shore.

"With our combined incomes and combined rent, it works out cheaper," she said. "But I'm looking at it only being a short-term solution till we can get somewhere in the suburbs where we can have some grass."

The survey found that more than half Auckland inner-city dwellers in 2001 had been living either in Auckland suburbs (20 per cent) or elsewhere in New Zealand (37 per cent) at the previous Census five years before.

Only 11 per cent were already in the inner city and 32 per cent were overseas. Almost half of all inner-city dwellers are in their twenties, with a median inner-city age of 29 - five years younger than the national average.

Only 8 per cent are children compared with the national average of 32 per cent. Most are couples without children (31 per cent) or individuals living with flatmates (also 31 per cent).

They are richer than most of us, with a median income of $26,500 compared with the New Zealand-wide median of $18,900. A quarter have professional jobs, another fifth are managers or administrators and almost as many are technicians and "associate professionals".

Many work long hours. At Census time, 12 per cent worked more than 60 hours a week and a further 17 per cent worked between 50 and 59 hours. Forty per cent walked to work.

A rental property manager with City Sales, Chantelle Todd, said the proportions of young people and Asians had probably gone up since 2001, despite a big drop in the foreign language student market.

"The majority, from what I see, are Asian students," she said. "There was a period when people were worried that they were dropping, but it never really happened."

She said rents had fallen, but that was more a result of a glut of new flats rather than weaker demand.