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Real Estate News Releases
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(EMAILWIRE.COM, May 01, 2009 ) New Zealand - The annual Mercer 2009 Quality of Living Survey selects the cities that offer people the very best quality of life, taking into account political, social, economic and environmental factors – this year, Austrian capital Vienna nabbed the top spot, with Auckland in New Zealand and Vancouver in Canada also ranking high…
New York, London and Paris may be top of many peopleÂ’s travel wishlists, but they donÂ’t offer a good quality of life for residents, according to this yearÂ’s worldwide Mercer Quality of Living Survey.
The survey, which is conducted to help to help Governments and major companies place employees on international assignments, covered 215 cities and looked at everything from house prices to job opportunities and public transport to mail services.
Austrian capital Vienna took the top spot, knocking SwitzerlandÂ’s Zurich and Geneva into second and third places respectively. Overall, European cities dominated the top of the ranking, with seven of the top ten cities being in Europe.
The three exceptions to this statement were Auckland in New Zealand, which took joint fourth place with Vancouver in Canada and Sydney, Australia, which crept in at number ten.
Mercer Spokesman Rob Knox said, “The global recession has meant that many organisations are reviewing international appointments and cities with favourable rankings had an advantage when it came to attracting expatriates.
“Despite the financial crisis, New Zealand remains a very attractive market for expats - particularly as a career development opportunity for high potentials.”
Andrew Lockhart, Regional Manager for Immigration New Zealand told TheMoveChannel.com “The number of Brits making a permanent move to live in New Zealand grew by 17 per cent in the year ending March 2009, with many attracted by the gorgeous scenery and landscape of New Zealand.
“New Zealanders also prides themselves on their enviable lifestyle, and especially their positive work-life balance.
“What’s more, the cost of living is generally less than in the UK and residents in New Zealand benefit from excellent healthcare and education systems.
“Migrants live all over New Zealand, but the majority (46 per cent) settle in the Auckland area. Our extensive research shows that 86 per cent of recent migrants to New Zealand are very satisfied with living in New Zealand and similar number of migrants (87 per cent) would recommend New Zealand as a great place to live,” added Mr Lockhart.
New ZealandÂ’s capital, Wellington, took 12th place, reigniting the rivalry between Auckland and Wellington.
Australian cities also fared well in the survey, with Sydney taking 10th, Melbourne 18th and Perth 21st.
Lee Bramzell, Chief Executive of PropertyIndex.com, told us, “Britons relocating abroad choose Australia and New Zealand because of the lifestyle benefits offered by these countries.
“Factors such as the friendly nature of the local people, quality schooling, as well as the abundance of jobs where there are specific skills shortages, are just some of the reasons British migrants are being drawn to antipodean shores.
“Exchange rates between the pound and the New Zealand and Australian dollar have remained relatively stable over the past six months, whereas by contrast, the cost of living in Europe has risen with the Pound going down in relation to the Euro,” added Mr Bramzell.
Paris took 33rd place, London took 38th place and New York took 49th place. Languishing at the bottom of the list was Baghdad in Iraq, which unsurprisingly took last place in the survey.
10 Best Cities
1. Vienna (Austria)
2. Zurich (Switzerland)
3. Geneva (Switzerland)
4. Auckland (New Zealand) and Vancouver (Canada)
6. Dusseldorf (Germany)
7. Munich (Germany
8. Frankfurt (Germany)
9. Bern (Switzerland)
10. Sydney (Australia)
10 Worst Cities
1. Baghdad (Iraq)
2. Bangui (Central African Republic)
3. Ndjamena (Chad)
4. Brazzaville (Congo)
5. Khartoum (Sudan)
6. Sanaa (Yemen Arab Republic)
7. Pointe Noire (Congo)
8. Nouakchott (Mauritania)
9. Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
10. Port au Prince (Haiti)
For more information on properties in New Zealand and the property market in general, please visit http://new-zealand.themovechannel.com/
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.
For further information, please contact:
Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650
TheMoveChannel.com
Dan Johnson
020 7952 7650
dj@themovechannel.com 
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