While we may not be heading for a crash, the country may be facing a slowdown in economic activity that will impact the housing market - but by how much, it is hard to say.
Keeping the country buoyant has been the high levels of population growth. It's been growing by a little more than 2 per cent a year (72,000 people) say the economists at Westpac.
"Some of the fastest population growth we've seen since the 1970s," they say. "And the resulting increase in the size of the economy has masked what has actually been quite muted economic growth on a per capita basis."
In its weekly economic report, the economists say departures of non-New Zealand citizens have been steadily rising since mid-2016 - currently it's nearly 20 per cent higher than this time last year.
One reason for this is that many arrived with temporary work and student visas, and those visas are starting to expire - forcing people to leave the country.
