The property sector's importance to the New Zealand economy is not adequately reflected in the attention it receives from education providers, says John Church, Bayleys' national director commercial.
Church says a recent report, commissioned by the Property Council and undertaken by economic consultancy Urban Economics, shows that property has overtaken manufacturing as New Zealand's largest single industry.
The report found the property industry grew by $11.7 billion over the 2007-2016 period - more than double the growth of any other industry - with a direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of $29.8 billion or 13 per cent of total GDP in the March 2016 year.
Writing in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine, Church says the property industry deserves to be accorded more focus within the education system, given its economic significance and substantial growth over the past decade.
"The property industry still struggles for recognition at a university level despite the passionate advocacy of Professor Deborah Levy, head of the University of Auckland's Department of Property, whose trail-blazing work for the sector was appropriately recognised with a lifetime achievement award at this year's RICS [Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors] awards," says Church.
