Originally Posted by The Weezer

I am a credible source. I go to auctions throughout the year when I'm able to keep an eye on the market. I would say, nearly every house that sold, was sold to either a family of Chinese origin (NZ born or not, I have no way of knowing), or of Indian, or Indian Fijian origin. It might be due to the area where I look (Manukau City) but that's the situation as I've witnessed it.

Our real estate agent is convinced our house will be bought by an Asian investor, and will be marketing the house with that in mind. Considering how many houses he sells, he should know who's buying.

Originally Posted by garethwm

Thats not credible. Thats hearsay. Firstly the original quote was Chinese not Asian. Secondly. even when Phil Twyford did his countup of Chinese looking names buying property at an anonymous real estate firm in an anonymous suburb, the count was 36%, which is not a majority and neither are they all immigrants. In no way can you say the majority of houses in Auckland are being bought by Chinese immigrants. Sorry.

Originally Posted by The Weezer

Wow. You just said I'm not credible. That's rude. It's not hearsay to me. I tell it like I see it, and I did qualify it by saying it might be a result of the particular area I was familiar with.

I never said the majority of houses in Auckland are bought by Chinese immigrants, in fact, I said I wouldn't even know IF they were immigrants or Kiwis.

Originally Posted by Clappy

Not necessarily the CBD - a few (and it is a small number) of companies have Head Offices on the North Shore - and Vodafone are about to relocate from (next to) the CBD up to Smales Farm so more are on their way.

Commuting in Auckland is grid-lock hell, there is nothing good that can be said of it. But don't take my word for it, or anybody else that pops their head over the parapet; NZTA are good at providing regular updates over their Twitter feed @NZTAAkl so you can take a look yourself to see what has been happening.

Alan Davies did a tour of the country recently including a show at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna which I went to. I counted four people in the theatre that weren't Caucasian (I had noticed that there weren't many so I counted) - one of them was staff.

Here is a TV advert that has been on recently extolling the virtues of the place so that you can see for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auW2pNHAKqg

- My background - I have been working on the North Shore for five years - two different companies. I don't live there.

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles

It's certainly no secret that traffic is a nightmare especially at school pick up and drop off times. You either need to be up and out with the sparrows first thing in the morning or allow at least 45 minutes to one hour to get anywhere and even that would be cutting it very fine some days. Some say you can bus it to CBD in 45 minutes but there are a few obstacles that can make that quite challenging on a long term basis as you either have to get on another feeder bus or drive to the bus station where lies the further sneaky wee problem of finding somewhere to park.

Originally Posted by garethwm

And very good citizens they make too. Generally intelligent, low crime, hard working and pleasant.

Originally Posted by jmh

Hi, nice to meet you. I am a kiwi and was in London for 24 years before returning to Auckland in 2011. There are a few of us here. I felt British when I came back, and it took a while to adjust. Fortunately, like you, I didn't have to worry about visas etc and I had family here. Happy to answer questions. I don't know the shore very well but I hear there are a lot of expat poms there.