Houses more affordable in South Island than North
By DAN EATON - The Press | Thursday, 3 May 2007
More South Islanders can afford to own the homes they live in than their northern counterparts, new figures show.
Rents are also lower on the Mainland, although the median weekly rent in Nelson has reached the same level as in Wellington.
But the figures, released yesterday by Statistics New Zealand in a report using 2006 census information, show that while more houses are being built, fewer New Zealanders on medium and low incomes can afford them.
The drop in home ownership and the increase in the number of people renting is most evident in under-40s earning less than $50,000 a year.
Pacific Islanders are the least likely to own their homes, with the problem most pronounced in the Auckland region, and there are more women who own homes than men.
Housing affordability has come under increased scrut-iny as spiralling interest rates push up the cost of mortgages.
The Government in March bowed to demands from National and agreed on Parliament's commerce select committee holding an inquiry into the rising cost of housing. In yesterday's report, the South Island fares better than the North.
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