WELLINGTON - Wellington and Auckland became significantly more expensive for expatriates over the last year, alongside major cities in Australia, partly because of a strong currency.
According to the latest Mercer cost-of-living survey, Auckland and Wellington both jumped 62 places to come in as 56th and 74th most expensive cities for expats respectively. The kiwi's strength against the US dollar was behind the lower affordability.
Sydney has claimed the title of Australia's most expensive city for expatriates, coming in 11th.
The home of the Opera House was followed closely by Melbourne at 15th most expensive and Perth sneaking in the top 20 at 19th.
All rose from their ranking the previous year, with Perth climbing 11 spots from number 30.
Canberra came in as the fourth most expensive of the six Australian cities surveyed, jumping 11 places from 23 the previous year, while Brisbane rose seven spots to take 24th place.
But it was Adelaide that increased its relative costliness the most, rising 19 places from 46 to 27th spot.
Mercer principal Nathalie Constantin-Metral said Australian cities had experienced some of the biggest jumps as the Aussie dollar strengthened against its US counterpart.
"Demand for rental properties has also increased significantly in all the Australian cities we rank," she said in a statement.
"Coupled with very limited availability, the result has been very tight markets and increased prices."