The proportion of New Zealand households who own their home has increased slightly since the last census in 2018, reversing a downward trend seen in the past three decades.
Two-thirds of households (66%) reported owning their own home in the 2023 census, according to data released by Statistics NZ on Thursday, up from 64.5% in 2018.
While this increase was small, it was the first increase since home ownership peaked at 73.8% in the early 1990s more than three decades ago.
Auckland households had the lowest regional rate of home ownership, at 59.5% at up only 0.1 point from 2018, while districts surrounding Christchurch had the highest rates.
Waimakariri was at 82.2% up from 80.5% and Selwyn district was at 80.5% up from 79.5% in 2018. Carterton district, just north of Wellington, came in third at 80.1%.
Wellington and Hamilton cities had the lowest home ownership rates at 58.6% and 53.5%, respectively.
Stats NZ principal analyst Rosemary Goodyear said home ownership was influenced by a range of factors but was particularly sensitive to affordability.
“We know that house prices tend to be highest in city centres, especially in Auckland and Wellington, whereas homes further out may be more affordable,” she said.
“We also know that rates of home ownership are higher among older people, so we see a pattern where areas with older populations have higher home ownership rates.”
Housing affordability has worsened since 2018. Infometrics data showed the house value to income ratio was 6.7 at the time of the previous census, compared to 7.3 in 2023.
Brad Olsen, chief executive of Infometrics, said there was a period of better affordability and lower interest rates between 2019 and 2021 which was likely when much progress on ownership occurred.
It was “remarkable and encouraging” that ownership went up a touch but it may not be an enduring trend since affordability had deteriorated in recent years, he said.
The data also helped confirm anecdotal evidence that urban dwellers have been increasingly shifting outside of big city boundaries to buy a home.
Other data
Stats NZ also reported a reduction in the number of damp homes. Only 18% of private dwellings experienced dampness during 2023, down from 21.5% in 2018.
There was also a substantial increase in the number of homes with heat pumps installed, at 66.8% in 2023 up from 47.3% five years prior.
Stats NZ said this was likely the result of law changes made by the Labour Government in 2020, known as Healthy Homes, which set stricter standards for insulation and heating in residential rental properties.
Less than a third of households now have a landline telephone, down from 62.5% in 2018, although nine out of 10 have access to the internet.
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