Big-spending Aucklanders really savers

Money-minded Aucklanders are salting away about $1000 a month, says a Westpac bank survey.

The bank says the results show that Aucklanders who save are belying the city's big-spending image and the country's balance of payments problem.

But a banking expert warns that the high cost of housing may be behind the results, as people desperately scrimp to take the first step on the property ownership ladder.

According to the Westpac telephone survey of 400 people, more than two-thirds of Aucklanders have been saving, with just under half saving regularly in the past three months.

Among the city's biggest savers are people aged 18 to 35, who were more likely to be saving for mortgages and deposits, while older people were focusing on saving for retirement.

Westpac's general manager marketing and products, David Cunningham, said the results were quite surprising.

"It says there's quite a good discipline that Aucklanders can save regularly - every part of the market has similar savings habits," he said.

The Nexus-conducted research shows that the rate of savings appears to be increasing, with 35 per cent of people saving more than a year ago.

And nearly half of all savers are planning to increase their savings over the next three months.

Mr Cunningham said the research showed that people were saving for houses and holidays, and even rainy days, "which reinforces that saving is not just about money sitting in a retirement account".

"The great New Zealand dream to own your own home is alive and kicking in Aucklanders. People realise they do have to save to get there, he said."

Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan said positive spending habits were good news for Aucklanders, and it would be interesting to see if the rest of New Zealand thought the same.

"I would have thought the rest of the country would think Aucklanders are more hedonistic than savers," she said.

Massey University banking expert David Tripe said the results were interesting as they differed from common expectations.

"What might be driving this is the fact that house prices have increased, and people know they can't afford a house right now, but they can save for it," Dr Tripe said. "This is the first survey with these types of results, which merits the need to go into greater depth."

AUCKLANDERS' SPENDING

* 75pc of Aucklanders are regular savers.

* 22pc of net monthly income is put away by savers.

* 6pc of 18 to 34-year-olds want to save more.

Source: Survey of 400 Aucklanders surveyed by phone