Southland surged to the top of ASB's latest Economic Regional Scoreboard for Q1 2024.
The Scoreboard ranks regions based on year-on-year growth across a range of measures, including employment, building consents and retail sales.
ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley revealed Auckland has been dethroned as the most prosperous region – replaced by the deep south.
"Southland recorded the fastest building consent growth in the country, increasing by more than 50% year-on-year," Tuffley said.
"House sales and house prices are both up year-on-year, by 32% and 4.4% respectively. We expect Southland's sterling run to continue next quarter, with favourable farming conditions relative to other parts of the country helping revenue and confidence."
Auckland's fall from grace comes despite the region enjoying the strongest increase in population and the highest consumer confidence score.
However, Tuffley described Auckland's overall score as "middling".
"We suspect further declines down the scoreboard could be possible with net migration having peaked and Aucklanders continuing to adjust their spending to meet higher mortgages."
1st - Southland (Up 10)
2nd - Otago (Steady)
3rd - Gisborne (Up 4)
4th - Marlborough (Up 11)
5th= - Auckland (Down 4) & Bay of Plenty (Steady)
7th – Canterbury (Down 1)
8th= - Northland (Up 1) & Waikato (Up 1)
10th – Wellington (Down 2)
11th – Tasman (Steady)
12th – Taranaki (Down 7)
13th – West Coast (Steady)
14th – Hawke's Bay (Down 11)
15th – Manawatu-Whanganui (Steady)
16th – Nelson (Steady)
