Women still trail men in home ownership stakes

PHOTO: A CoreLogic study found that men own 0.5 percent more homes than women

Women continue to trail men in home ownership as housing affordability makes joint-ownership a more popular option.

CoreLogic’s 2023 Women & Property report released ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday shows a year-on-year drop in the number of single-sex property owners in New Zealand while mixed-gendered home ownership has increased.

The study found men own 0.5 percent more homes than women, which works out to 8149 more properties.

Female-only ownership of dwellings was 22 percent, compared to male-only ownership at 22.5 percent, while property jointly owned between men and women was 55.5 percent.

In a statement, CoreLogic report author Eliza Owen said while it looked like the gender property gap was small or closing, it was more likely that joint home ownership was becoming more popular.

OUR $99 plus GST BANNER AD SALE IS ON! LIMITED

“It is possible that affordability constraints have pushed more purchasing decisions to be made by two or more home buyers together than individually. Interestingly, when compared with Australia, New Zealand has a significantly higher portion of mixed-gendered and joint same-sex ownership,” she said.

Owen said there was still a large gender discrepancy in the ownership of investment properties with men owning 26.4 percent of investment properties versus 21.3 percent for women.

CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said women tended to own a higher percentage of cheaper homes in rural areas or central city apartments.