Property analysis
Canterbury is one of only two regions nationally, where women and men own equal percentages of properties, according to a new report.
Released on International Women’s Day (8 March), CoreLogic’s 2024 Women & Property report found that nationally female-only real estate investors significantly lag their male counterparts in fast-tracking wealth creation through property. Analysis of New Zealand’s home ownership revealed that while female-only owner occupier rates were higher than men, they fell behind significantly with investment properties.
The fourth edition of the report, which provides an update to the state of home ownership for men and women across New Zealand as of January 2024, shows the proportion of female-only owner-occupied properties is 22.9% compared with male-only owner-occupied figure of 20.7%. Investment stock analysis identified female-only ownership rate at 21.6%, while male-only ownership was notably higher at 26.3%.
CoreLogic report author and chief property economist Kelvin Davidson says factors, such as pay and financial literacy, are likely to be responsible for the gap. The report found 22.2% of homes across all dwellings are owned exclusively by one or more females, slightly less than the 22.7% owned by males. The remaining 55.0% of homes have mixed gender ownership. In terms of the value of property, female-only stock had a median value of $650,532 in the latest results, versus $675,975 for male-owned dwellings.
Of the 14 regions nationally, four have a female-only ownership rate higher than the national average. Gisborne has the highest female-only ownership rate, at 24.9%, followed by Auckland at 23.7%, and Wellington and Manawatu-Whanganui. The West Coast and Tasman-Nelson-Marlborough are the lowest. Females own more property than males in Gisborne, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Northland, and Bay of Plenty. In Canterbury and Manawatu-Whanganui, the female-only and male-only ownership rates are equal.
Visit www.corelogic.co.nz/news-research/reports/women-and-property-2024 to read the full report.
