PHOTO: Demographia International Housing Affordability
Rating Middle-Income Housing Affordability
Australia Australia Canada China (Hong Kong) China (Hong Kong) Ireland Ireland
Japan New Zealand Singapore
United Kingdom United States
New Zealand
New Zealand’s housing affordability indicates an improvement that largely due to an upward restatement of median for the last decade by Statistics New Zealand. Even so, New Zealand’s housing remains severely unaffordable, with a Median Multiple of 5.8.
Major Housing Market: Auckland, New Zealand’s only major housing market has a severely unaffordable 8.8 Median Multiple. Housing affordability has deteriorated from a Median Multiple of 5.9 in the first Survey (2004), thus adding the equivalent of nearly three years in pre-tax median household income to the house prices. Auckland is the ninth least affordable among the 92 major housing markets, and has been severely unaffordable in all 14 Demographia International Housing Affordability Surveys.
Other Housing Markets: There is severely unaffordable housing in the two largest markets outside Auckland. Christchurch has a Median Multiple of 5.4, while Wellington is at 5.5. Housing Affordability and Public Policy: Outside Singapore, New Zealand is the only nation in the Survey demonstrating a serious public policy priority to restore and maintain middle-income housing affordability. In New Zealand, as in Australia, housing had been affordable until approximately a quarter century ago. However, urban containment policies were adopted across the
country, and consistent with the international experience, housing became severely unaffordable in all three of New Zealand’s largest housing markets, Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington
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