Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, March 9, 2024
This week saw many social media posts and messages on Women’s Day, celebrating the power of women and acknowledging their contribution to every aspect of life.
A recently released CoreLogic Women and Property report has provided an insightful update on homeownership for men and women across New Zealand as of January 2024.
Compared to the 2023 results, both female-only and male-only ownership rates have been fairly stable, with the greater dominance of males in the investment sector explaining the overall gap in gender ownership rates for New Zealand property.
Male-inferred ownership across all dwellings remains slightly higher in New Zealand than female-only, at 22.7% versus 22.2% in 2024. Mixed-gender ownership sits at 55.0%. The 50 basis point gap between female-only and male-only ownership equates to just short of 8000 properties.
Compared to the 2023 findings, single-sex ownership has risen slightly for both males and females. In terms of property value, female-only stock had a median value of $650,532 in the latest results, versus $675,975 for male-owned dwellings.
Ownership and Investment
Of all dwellings where gender was inferred in this report, 83% had either an owner-occupied or investment flag associated with them. Starting with owner-occupation, the female-only ownership rate in 2024 is estimated at 22.9%, slightly higher than the figure across all stock of 22.2%, and above the male-only proportion of 20.7%. Female-only inferred ownership is relatively higher when it comes to owner-occupation.
But looking at investment stock identified by CoreLogic, the female-only ownership rate falls back to 21.6%, while the male-only rises quite sharply to 26.3%. That is to say, male-only ownership is much stronger when it comes to rental investment.
First, the gender wage gap means that, in theory at least, males can build financial wealth a bit faster, allowing earlier/more investment in rental properties. Second, some studies have shown financial education and literacy to be a little stronger for males too, potentially giving them more awareness of different options.
Asset calculation
Dwelling ownership is a key factor in both wealth accumulation and secure tenure for households and individuals. The property market remains to hold an important position as a source of wealth.
At the end of 2021, Stats NZ reported that owner-occupied dwellings and other real estate accounted for 43% of total household assets, up from 39% in 2018.
“Given the housing downturn seen since 2021, that proportion may have dropped back a bit again, but it is still likely to be significant. As a result of its importance in households’ balance sheets, international research has shown that housing is utilised as a source of equity for funding costs later in life. At the same time, security of tenure and satisfaction with housing has also been shown to increase with home ownership,” the report said.
“Although renting offers greater mobility and generally lower housing costs than owning with a mortgage, there is evidence that renting becomes less satisfying for tenants the longer they are in a private rental,” it added.
The plight of seniors
The report also said that older people who retire as renters generally face greater levels of housing stress and may well be at greater risk of poverty when taking housing costs into account. For these reasons, it is important to track homeownership rates across different intersections of society.
Several factors may have historically hindered home ownership among females relative to males.
A spokesperson at CoreLogic said, “In past reports, we have noted the role of the gender wage gap (latest estimate of around 9%) potentially contributing to women falling a little behind on asset accumulation, particularly where it may take women longer on average to accumulate a deposit for a home.
Areas of affordability
The better affordability in provincial areas such as Kawerau, Whanganui, Invercargill and South Waikato might help to explain reasonable female-only ownership rates.
In Auckland, although more expensive, a high share of apartments could be assisting female-only ownership rates.
For the bottom five Council areas, one aspect that stands out is a tendency to be ‘holiday areas’, such as MacKenzie, Southland (which includes the Fiordland area), Queenstown-Lakes, and Thames-Coromandel.
Relatively high property prices and a tendency for employment to be towards lower salary brackets (such as tourism/hospitality) could be a hindrance for female-only owners in these tourist-heavy areas. Such areas are also likely to have more investment properties, where males were also seen to be more active across the market.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
