WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand retail sales picked up the pace in the fourth quarter, rising 1.7 percent as consumers splashed out on groceries and dining out, official data showed on Friday.
That put sales 5.4 percent higher on the year, Statistics New Zealand reported.
"Households ended 2017 with a bang ... (following) a very muted gain in the preceding quarter," said Satish Ranchhod, senior economist at Westpac.
The result suggested that a stark slowdown in growth in the third quarter was a temporary blip on the back of an turbulent election period and a slowdown in house price growth which left homeowners feeling their net worth was worse off.
As the hangover lifted, house prices rose and the summer holiday season got under way, consumers started to spend again.
"With a recent second wind in the housing market and continued firmness in tourist flows, we expect that spending growth will remain firm in the early part of 2018," Ranchhod said.
Food and beverage sales lifted 3.7 percent, supermarket shopping grew 1.4 percent, and car sales rose 2.1 percent.
Economists had worried that softness in big ticket items such as vehicles in the previous quarter might be a sign of ongoing jitters among consumers.
The New Zealand dollar <NZD=D4> was largely unchanged on the result, initially lifting from $0.7336 to $0.7343, but quickly giving up those gains.
(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Leslie Adler)
