About a third of low income households have been spending more than 40% of their income on housing costs, according to new figures from Statistics NZ.
And nearly one-in-10 of total households are now in "material hardship".
The figures come from Stats NZ's Household Economic Survey, conducted between July 2023 and June 2024.
Stats NZ said in the year ended June 2024, over 31% of households earning up to $70,000 spent 40% or more of their income on housing costs.
Across all households, 19.7% spent 40% or more of their income on housing costs, up from 18.2% the previous year.
"Although incomes increased, these statistics show that people spent a higher proportion of their money on housing costs than they had in the past," Stats NZ's household financial statistics spokesperson Chris Pooch said.
"This creates further pressure on a household’s budget, along with things like groceries and petrol getting more expensive over the same time period."
Stats NZ said in the year ended June 2024, 9.4% of households were in material hardship, up from 8.6% in the previous year.
A household is defined as being in material hardship if it lacks six or more of items people regarded as essential. This includes putting off doctor’s visits, going without fresh fruit and vegetables, and putting up with feeling cold.
“What we’re seeing is continued housing costs pressure on both renters and those paying mortgages. Spending more on housing costs means there is less money left over to pay for other necessities,” Pooch said.
Between the years ended June 2023 and June 2024, average annual household equivalised disposable income (before housing costs) increased by 5.5%. However, average weekly rent payments increased 9.0% and weekly mortgage payments increased by 8.7%.
More than one-in-three households (38.2%) felt that their income was ‘not enough’ or ‘only just enough’ to meet their everyday needs. This figure has increased over the last two years.
In the year ended June 2024, 28.4% of households that did not own their home were spending more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs.
Average weekly rent payments increased from $427.10 in 2023 to $465.50 in 2024 (up 9.0%).
Over half (55.2%) of renters felt that their income was ‘not enough’ or ‘only just enough’ to meet their everyday needs in the year ended June 2024.
One-in-seven households (14.8%) that owned or partly-owned their home spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs in the year ended June 2024.
Last year Stats NZ had reported that in the year ended June 2023, average mortgage payments increased 27.5%. Average weekly expenditure on mortgage payments, for households with a mortgage, had therefore risen to $605.60 as of June 2023, compared with $475.00 in the previous year. This was the biggest single-year increase since 2008.
And average weekly mortgage payments continued to increase in 2024, from $605.50 to $658.20, an increase of 8.7% on the previous year. Mortgage interest payments rose 35.8%, while mortgage principal repayments were down 17.8% from the previous year.
In 2024, households making mortgage payments were more likely to report that their income was ‘not enough’ or ‘only just enough’ (34.4%, up from 31.5% in the year ended June 2023).
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