Migrants continue to flood into New Zealand, with July's net migration of 5750 the highest net monthly inflow on record, Statistics New Zealand figures released yesterday show.
A record-high 10,620 people migrated to New Zealand in July while 4879 people departed.
On an annual basis, net migration had set another record of 59,639 in the year ended July.
The figure included 52,744 working-age migrants, adding to the pool of workers in New Zealand.
ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown expected net migration to remain at or about the current level for at least the next three months.
''But we acknowledge picking the time of a change in current migration patterns is difficult. Continued strong inflows will support labour capacity and contain wages.''
Housing demand would also remain fuelled by the flows, particularly in Auckland, he said.
Westpac senior economist Felix Delbruck was cautious about reading too much into the surprise July result.
Statistics NZ noted a major contributor was a lift in arrivals on student visas.
Student arrivals tended to surge in July and seasonal adjustments might be struggling to isolate the underlying trend.
''Even allowing for some statistical volatility in the student category, there is clearly no sign yet of migration slowing.''
New Zealand's economic outlook had deteriorated and the labour market had started to soften, he said.
Migrants responded to economic incentives and that should result in slower net migration and population growth over time.
The fact it had not happened to date might be due to conditions not being much better in economies also competing with New Zealand for migrants - notably Australia, where the consumer mood around jobs and earnings prospects remained downbeat.
The implications for the wider economy were deeply ambiguous, Mr Delbruck said.
Rapid population growth was adding to demand for housing and related activity, particularly.
However, the influx of migrants was also boosting the supply of available labour, which meant higher unemployment and softer wage inflation in the short term.
The combination of weaker economic growth and continued strong population growth was one reason why the Reserve Bank would have to provide significant further interest rate support to meet its inflation target, he said.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said many students and work visa holders put a strain on public services, including hospitals and housing. Many would become permanent residents.
''We know most foreign students use student visas as their swipe card to permanent residency and that's how agents sell New Zealand education to them.''
The ''export education'' demand was artificial.
While there was unemployment of 146,000, one in five Maori and Pacific youth jobless and thousands stuck on casual and part-time work, the Government should not be relying on an age-old trick to increase competition for jobs and keep wages down by allowing immigration of 117,100 people in one year, Mr Peters said.
