June 2025 Quarterly Insights
The June quarter was challenging for many city centre street trading businesses, reflecting persistent trends. The latest State of the Nation report highlights the city centre’s great potential, but urgent, coordinated action is essential to attract more people and investment. Funding for major events must be resolved, along with a more balanced approach to transformation that better supports small businesses to survive and grow, and makes access easier for their customers and suppliers.
Our advocacy continues and we’ve welcomed the opening of a permanent city centre police station, with strong focus on continuing the downward trend on crime. Now we've asked for the same level of commitment from government on social issues, with bold, aspirational solutions so people do not sleep or beg on our streets. The Street Guardians programme, developed by Heart of the City and managed by Auckland City Mission, is proof that positive alternatives can work.
Viv Beck, Chief Executive, Heart of the City
Our June quarter results continue to show the challenges for street trading businesses.
While international spend eased back to seasonal norms, it still outpaced domestic spending, highlighting its continued value. Leasing results paint a picture of a city centre in transition as office and retail adapt to new patterns of use and opportunity.
As well as welcoming several new customer-facing businesses, the iconic shoe store Pat Menzies celebrated 50 years in the city centre.
Cultural events added vibrancy throughout the quarter, with the Aotearoa Arts Fair attracting its largest crowd in two decades and the Auckland Writers Festival matching its 2024 record with 85,000 attendees.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to see the results of our Restaurant Month programme and New Zealand Fashion Week, which all return in the September quarter.
Let’s take a closer look at our June 2025 quarterly results.
Spend remains subdued
Source: Marketview. Not for Reproduction.
Marketview's June report showed spend for the month was -1.2% compared to June 2024, “continuing the trend we’ve seen for most of the year.” This national softness is reflected in the city centre’s June 2025 quarter results, which show ongoing pressure from persistent economic conditions and predictable seasonal dips. Overall spend in the city centre was -8% compared to the STLY, with competitors -3% over the same period.
Source: Marketview. Not for Reproduction.
Spending in the city centre for the quarter remained below 2024 levels, -8% compared to June 2024 and year-to-date spend -9%.
Source: Marketview. Not for Reproduction.
People residing in the Auckland City area (the old boundaries of the Auckland City Council) made up the biggest share of city centre spending (39%). Monday-Friday contributed to the biggest share of spending (72%), as did daytime spending at 70% (6am – 6pm).
International spend normalises, still outpaces domestic dip
International spend in the city centre dropped back to its seasonal level, making up 20% of total spend for the June 2025 quarter. Cafés and restaurants remained the top category for international spend in the June 2025 quarter, capturing 29%.
Source: Marketview. Not for Reproduction.
Compared to the same quarter in 2024, international spend was +2%, again standing out as the only area of growth.
These results highlight the important role international spend plays in the city centre’s economy, especially when domestic activity is soft. They also reflect a steady rise in international visitors to Auckland, with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited reporting increased arrivals in April and May compared to the same period in 2024. Nationally, Marketview reported a 16.3% increase in international spend for the month of June compared to last year, reinforcing the trend.
Overall foot traffic
Source: HOTC Pedestrian Counts. Not for Reproduction.
In the June quarter, overall foot traffic in the city centre was +0.24% compared to the previous quarter. Year-on-year foot traffic here was -9%.
Source: HOTC Pedestrian Counts. Not for Reproduction.
From pop to poetry: cultural events brought boosts to foot traffic
The June quarter’s events calendar was a celebration of art in all its forms, underscoring the essential role arts and major events play in adding to the vibrancy of the city centre.
May was a cultural feast, with music, comedy, literature and art drawing crowds here.
The Aotearoa Art Fair at the Viaduct Harbour reported nearly 11,000 people through its doors, its largest turnout in the event’s 20-year history.
New Zealand Music Month, supported by Auckland Council, brought live music and activations to the city centre, including the debut of Mighty, a pint-sized pop-up stage in Te Komititanga (Lower Queen Street) featuring one-song sets by top Kiwi musicians.
The return of the International Comedy Festival added to the buzz, while the Auckland Writers Festival matched its 2024 record, drawing 85,000 attendees to the Aotea Centre. Our data during the Writers Festival period showed foot traffic was +8% compared to the previous week, with an additional 64,000 people in the city centre.
Even as winter set in, audiences kept coming. Auckland Live reported more than 22,000 attendees at performances across its venues, from Opera New Zealand’s La Bohème to the Auckland Cabaret Festival.
Looking ahead
The September quarter sees the return of many much-loved events to the city centre, including the New Zealand International Film Festival and New Zealand Fashion Week.
We’re excited to see the impact of our own Restaurant Month programme, which runs throughout the month of August. It’s had a fantastic start, with several special events already sold out and 100+ menus on offer. For 2025, we have a new-look campaign, with the key message being ‘Don’t Try This At Home.’ The campaign features strikingly simple photography and a sharp film with Ahi’s Chef Mike Shatura.
Leasing results highlight ongoing transition
Office vacancy:
Auckland’s city centre office market continues to evolve, shaped by corporate relocations, hybrid working models, and a sustained flight to quality. As highlighted in our December 2024 Quarterly Insights, this transition is ongoing, with recent data reaffirming the trend.
Colliers New Zealand Research Report shows that demand for prime-grade offices remains high. Vacancy decreased in the first half of 2025, to 8.9% in June 2025, from 9.8% in December 2025. They note that both the Auckland and Wellington office markets "compare favourably with those reported across most of Australia's state capitals."
JLL points to several significant projects planned over the next five years, including MRCB's The Symphony Centre, Precinct's Downtown redevelopment, and Mansons TCLM Limited's 35 Graham Street. JLL describes the increase in premium space as “a positive indicator of market confidence and future growth potential.”
The latest employment data reveals a strong increase in the number of people working here. CBRE reports a 16% increase between 2021 and 2024, adding over 22,000 jobs, primarily in office-based sectors such as professional services and finance, which now make up 45% of the total workforce. This reinforces the city centre’s role as a hub for high-value employment. Businesses assessing how they use office spaces in light of shifting work practices is not unique to the city centre; it’s across New Zealand. However, CBRE's latest Office Occupier Survey shows a heartening shift: the proportion of occupiers planning to reduce their footprint has dropped from 47% to 29%, while 45% intend to maintain their current space and 26% plan to expand.
CBRE writes about CBD’s across the country:
“We see a scenario later in 2026 and 2027 where better economic conditions will conflate with greater employee presence in the office to create a sizable rebound in absorption. Offering the right type of office spaces to capitalise on this goes beyond the traditional view on flight to quality. It will involve proactive asset management approaches, well-judged capex, proximity to broader amenities, public transport and micro-factors such as streetscapes.”
Retail vacancy:
As previously reported, Colliers found that retail vacancy dropped to 9.9% at the end of 2024, down from 10.4% earlier in the year. JLL’s data shows a similar trend, with overall city centre retail vacancy decreasing marginally to 7.3% between June and December 2024. However, leasing activity was quieter in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the third and fourth quarters of 2024. Location remains a key factor, with Commercial Bay and the lower end of Queen Street showing minimal vacancies.
New customer-facing businesses open, Pat Menzies celebrates 50 years in the city centre
We’ve welcomed several new customer-facing businesses to the city centre recently. Warming Rice Noodle, Master Pig Pork Rice and Wesound Café have joined the fabulous array of eateries on Lorne Street. They’re a stone’s throw from XHUBA Gallery on High Street, an art space specialising in sculpture and jewellery.
XHUBA Gallery says the decision to “open in the city centre – specifically High Street” was:
“for its character, foot traffic, and cultural potential…to be part of a dynamic urban environment where art and storytelling can connect with both locals and international visitors. The central location gives us visibility and positions us within Auckland’s growing creative and retail scene."
In the June quarter, iconic city centre shoe store Pat Menzies celebrated 50 years of business here. We had a chat with Pat himself and Retail Care Manager Andy (Pat's right-hand man for over 30 years). Together, they told the tale of Pat Menzies - how it came to be, their favourite memories and hopes for its legacy. Watch it below. Congratulations to the entire team, past and present, for an outstanding achievement.
