The proportion of New Zealand households that own their own home is increasing, while the proportion that rent is in decline, according to the latest Statistics NZ data from the 2023 census.
The increase in home ownership is small but could mark a significant turning point in the structure of our housing market if the trend continues.
The census measures the three main types of household tenure; direct ownership where the home is owned by its occupants; indirect ownership via a family trust; and dwellings that are not owned by their occupants or via a trust, which captures most rental properties.
This shows between the 2013 and 2023 censuses, the percentage of households throughout the country that directly owned their own home increased from 49.9% in the 2013 census to 54.9% in the 2023 census.
Most of that increase is due to the diminishing popularity of family trusts as an ownership vehicle for family homes.
Trust ownership of family homes declined from 14.8% in 2013 to 11.1% in 2023, and between 2018 and 2023 they declined in absolute numbers as well as percentage share.
However, even allowing for that shift in the ownership pattern, overall home ownership, either directly or via a trust, increased from 64.6% to 66.0% between 2018 and 2023, while the proportion of homes not owned by their occupants either directly or indirectly (renters) decreased from 35.5% to 34.0%. The 2023 census showed the first lift in home ownership for 30 years.
Of course there are significant regional differences, with direct home ownership rates being greatest on the West Coast 68.1%, followed by Tasman 66.5% and Nelson 62.1%.
Direct home ownership rates are lowest in the Auckland Region at 48.1%, which is the only region where direct home ownership is below 50%.
Auckland also has the highest percentage of renting households in the country at 40.5%.
The chart below gives the ownership breakdowns nationally and by region.
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| Tenure of Households by Region | ||||||
| Census Years 2013 - 2023 | ||||||
| 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | ||||
| Area: Total All of Aotearoa | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 725448 | 49.9% | 847377 | 51.3% | 978105 | 54.9% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 512109 | 35.2% | 586131 | 35.5% | 604884 | 34.0% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 215280 | 14.8% | 219555 | 13.3% | 197112 | 11.1% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 1452837 | 100.0% | 1653060 | 100.0% | 1780104 | 100% |
| Area: Northland Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 27861 | 52.1% | 35379 | 55.1% | 42546 | 60.4% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 18066 | 33.8% | 20610 | 32.1% | 20118 | 28.5% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 7581 | 14.2% | 8226 | 12.8% | 7806 | 11.1% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 53508 | 100.0% | 64215 | 100.0% | 70470 | 100.0% |
| Area: Auckland Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 201408 | 46.0% | 225456 | 45.4% | 259299 | 48.1% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 168705 | 38.5% | 201330 | 40.6% | 218220 | 40.5% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 67533 | 15.4% | 69642 | 14.0% | 61839 | 11.5% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 437649 | 100% | 496428 | 100.0% | 539361 | 100.0% |
| Area: Waikato Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 68193 | 48.5% | 82917 | 50.9% | 97464 | 54.9% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 52536 | 37.3% | 59274 | 36.4% | 61083 | 34.4% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 19977 | 14.2% | 20613 | 12.7% | 18900 | 10.7% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 140706 | 100.0% | 162804 | 100.0% | 177447 | 100.0% |
| Area: Bay of Plenty Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 45453 | 47.9% | 57075 | 51.5% | 67287 | 56.8% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 33453 | 35.3% | 36753 | 33.2% | 35943 | 30.3% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 15981 | 16.8% | 17034 | 15.4% | 15207 | 12.8% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 94887 | 100.0% | 110862 | 100.0% | 118440 | 100.0% |
| Area: Gisborne Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 7080 | 48.1% | 8133 | 49.6% | 9096 | 53.1% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 6006 | 40.8% | 6666 | 40.6% | 6354 | 37.1% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 1629 | 11.1% | 1611 | 9.8% | 1674 | 9.8% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 14718 | 100.0% | 16410 | 100.0% | 17124 | 100.0% |
| Area: Hawke's Bay Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 26919 | 49.8% | 31206 | 51.8% | 35577 | 56.5% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 18420 | 34.1% | 20151 | 33.5% | 19143 | 30.4% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 8700 | 16.1% | 8871 | 14.7% | 8190 | 13.0% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 54039 | 100.0% | 60228 | 100.0% | 62913 | 100.0% |
| Area: Taranaki Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 21084 | 52.1% | 24810 | 54.8% | 28647 | 59.6% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 12951 | 32.0% | 14205 | 31.4% | 13755 | 28.6% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 6405 | 15.8% | 6234 | 13.8% | 5688 | 11.8% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 40440 | 100.0% | 45249 | 100.0% | 48093 | 100.0% |
| Area: Manawatu-Whanganui Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 42228 | 51.7% | 49737 | 55.0% | 55953 | 58.8% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 28401 | 34.8% | 30165 | 33.4% | 29667 | 31.2% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 11067 | 13.5% | 10503 | 11.6% | 9555 | 10.0% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 81696 | 100.0% | 90405 | 100.0% | 95178 | 100.0% |
| Area: Wellington Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 86346 | 51.8% | 98823 | 53.3% | 110118 | 56.7% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 58515 | 35.1% | 64818 | 35.0% | 65472 | 33.7% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 21933 | 13.1% | 21690 | 11.7% | 18780 | 9.7% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 166791 | 100.0% | 185331 | 100.0% | 194370 | 100.0% |
| Area: Tasman Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 10194 | 58.6% | 11964 | 61.2% | 14538 | 66.5% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 4356 | 25.0% | 4761 | 24.4% | 4935 | 22.6% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 2850 | 16.4% | 2820 | 14.4% | 2391 | 10.9% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 17397 | 100.0% | 19545 | 100.0% | 21864 | 100.0% |
| Area: Nelson Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 9648 | 54.5% | 11220 | 56.6% | 12777 | 62.1% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 5598 | 31.6% | 6210 | 31.3% | 5922 | 28.8% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 2445 | 13.8% | 2388 | 12.0% | 1872 | 9.1% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 17691 | 100.0% | 19818 | 100.0% | 20571 | 100.0% |
| Area: Marlborough Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 9252 | 55.3% | 10821 | 58.1% | 12090 | 61.7% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 4863 | 29.1% | 5121 | 27.5% | 5085 | 26.0% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 2607 | 15.6% | 2679 | 14.4% | 2412 | 12.3% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 16722 | 100.0% | 18621 | 100.0% | 19584 | 100.0% |
| Area: West Coast Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 7176 | 58.9% | 8151 | 60.5% | 9675 | 68.1% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 3885 | 31.9% | 4293 | 31.8% | 3612 | 25.4% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 1119 | 9.2% | 1035 | 7.7% | 912 | 6.4% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 12180 | 100.0% | 13482 | 100.0% | 14199 | 100.0% |
| Area: Canterbury Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 106311 | 54.7% | 125385 | 55.6% | 148026 | 59.6% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 61671 | 31.7% | 72606 | 32.2% | 75657 | 30.4% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 26262 | 13.5% | 27375 | 12.1% | 24837 | 10.0% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 194244 | 100.0% | 225366 | 100.0% | 248517 | 100.0% |
| Area: Otago Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 37221 | 49.9% | 44631 | 52.2% | 51084 | 55.8% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 23841 | 32.0% | 27321 | 32.0% | 28365 | 31.0% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 13461 | 18.1% | 13473 | 15.8% | 12102 | 13.2% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 74523 | 100.0% | 85428 | 100.0% | 91551 | 100.0% |
| Area: Southland Region | ||||||
| · Dwelling owned or partly owned | 18963 | 53.5% | 21540 | 55.8% | 23796 | 59.2% |
| · Dwelling not owned and not held in a family trust | 10743 | 30.3% | 11718 | 30.4% | 11454 | 28.5% |
| · Dwelling held in a family trust | 5709 | 16.1% | 5334 | 13.8% | 4932 | 12.3% |
| · Total stated - tenure of household | 35415 | 100.0% | 38589 | 100.0% | 40182 | 100.0% |
| Source: Statistics NZ | ||||||
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