KEY POINTS:
While most of us like to stay put, more than a quarter of New Zealanders have moved at least once in the past two years, a survey reveals.
The first nationwide Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for Migration in New Zealand found that social and environmental reasons were
the main factors behind people moving to new homes.
The survey by Statistics NZ in the March 2007 quarter examined what motivates people to move from one house to another, one area to another, or to and from New Zealand.
It also looked at what motivates "non-movers" to stay where they are.
The survey found that those who moved within New Zealand between March 2005 and March this year were generally younger than those who did not move in the two years.
About one-third of "movers" were aged between 20 and 29, and, of ethnic groups, Maori had the largest proportion of movers within New Zealand (34.3 per cent).
Auckland had the highest percentage of movers from overseas, with 5.6 per cent of the population people who had moved there from other countries in the past two years.
The survey revealed that Aucklanders were also the most settled group among the regions, with more than half the population saying they were not planning to move.
Wellington had the highest proportion of people planning to move in the next two years (20.9 per cent), while in the last two years, Canterbury residents were the least settled and Northland residents the most.
Three out of 10 people living in Canterbury had moved within New Zealand since March 2005, followed by Wellington (29.5 per cent) and Southland (26.5 per cent).
Nationally, the proportion of movers was 25.5 per cent.
Social motivations, including living with others or living closer to others, were the main reason for people moving to their current home (21.7 per cent).
This was closely followed by environmental reasons (21.1 per cent), such as proximity to services and facilities.
Moving to live with a spouse or partner was the main reason given by 23,700 people.
But economic reasons, particularly buying or building a new home, dictated moves away from a previous house for 32 per cent of people.
Economic and employment reasons were also factors in the choice of current location for movers.
However, they were less influential than social and environmental considerations.
Most of those who intended to move within the next two years wanted to stay in the same area.
About two-thirds of Southland's population was not planning to move, the highest of any region.
Not moving was only slightly preferable to moving in terms of happiness. Eighty-six per cent of movers, both within New Zealand and from overseas, rated their living conditions as better or much better than before they moved, while 94 per cent of non-movers were satisfied or very satisfied compared with two years ago.
The survey found that professionals and service and sales workers moved more than people in other occupations.
The highest proportion of movers within New Zealand were service and sales workers, while the majority of movers from overseas were professionals.
Movers were also more likely to be single. Of movers within New Zealand, 42.9 per cent had never been married or were separated, while only 28.4 per cent of non-movers fell into the same category.