NZ housing affordability by region
Is buying a house harder than it used to be? It depends on how you measure it, and on where you live. This calculator compares the median house price with the median household income in 10 regions, every year since 2005. It looks at affordability three ways, and shows what you’d need to earn to buy there today.
Look at the whole picture, not one number
Each measure tells you something different. None of them tells the whole story on its own.
House price to income shows how many years of income the median house costs.
Repayments show how much of each pay goes on the mortgage. They depend on interest rates as much as on prices.
Deposit shows how many years of income it takes to get a foot in the door.
They can point in opposite directions. In 2021 the median house cost a record 8.7 times the median household income, but with mortgage rates at 2.5%, repayments took only 33% of income. By 2023 prices had eased to 6.7 times income, yet repayments had jumped to 43% because rates had risen to 7.1%. Deposits were hardest to save in 2021, but repayments were hardest to meet in 2023. Neither year was simply “affordable” or “unaffordable”. It’s the combination that matters.
The median house isn’t necessarily your house
These figures are for the median house: half of all sales in the region were above that price and half below. Many buyers, especially first home buyers, buy below the median. They might choose a smaller home, a unit, or a cheaper suburb. Enter your own income and the price you’re looking at in “Your figures” to see where you sit, rather than relying on the regional median.
About the numbers
House prices are REINZ’s August medians. Incomes are Stats NZ’s median household income before tax, from the Household Labour Force Survey. It leaves out retiree-only households, since few of them are buying, so incomes run a little higher than some other measures. Interest rates are the Reserve Bank’s average 1 year fixed rates. The full details are under the calculator. The figures are updated once a year.
This is general information about the past, not personalised financial advice.
Want to know what you can afford?
Try the how much house can I afford calculator, or book a free 30 minute chat to talk through whether buying stacks up for you.