Have you thought your housing costs were getting more expensive? You’re probably right. Statistics New Zealand released their household income and housing cost figures for 2017 January – June. The figures show that in the last ten years, housing costs increased by 50.5 per cent while household income rose only 42 per cent.
Both of these increases have also been more than twice the rate of inflation in the same period.
The average annual household income has risen nearly $30,000 to $98,000 since 2007. During the same time, household costs rose $6,000 to $16,000. Inflation, measured by the consumer price index, increased 20 per cent.
Statistics New Zealand also found that renters were almost three times as likely as home owners to spend 40 per cent or more of their income on housing costs.
In the ten years leading up to June 2017, for every $100 of household income, New Zealanders spent an average of $16.40 on housing costs.
Despite the rise in household costs and inflation, Statistics New Zealand found that 82 per cent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their life lives in general and 65 per cent said they had enough, or more than enough, money to get by.
For more information on household income and housing cost statistics in the year ending in June 2017, visit Statistics New Zealand website here.
