Women are more likely than men to own the home they are living in, but less likely to be a landlord.
That’s according to the latest Women and Property report by analysts CoreLogic, which has been released today ahead of International Women’s Day.
It found women solely own an estimated 22.9 per cent of all family homes, where the owner is believed to live in the house, compared to 20.7 per cent owned by men.
However, men solely own more rental properties - 26.3 per cent compared to 21.6 per cent for women.
That meant overall, men still solely own slightly more of New Zealand’s 1.6 million residential properties (22.7 per cent versus 22.4 per cent, while 55 per cent are jointly owned by men and women).
Report author Kelvin Davidson said two key factors could help explain the differences in rental ownership.
Men’s higher-on-average salaries could potentially help them to save for deposits quicker, “allowing for earlier and more investment in rental properties”, he said.
“There is some evidence that financial education and literacy is higher among males too, potentially giving them more awareness of different options.”
Better government policies could help even the playing field for both sexes, he said.
And that was important because Stats NZ reported residential property as accounting for 41 per cent of total household wealth as of the end of 2021, Davidson said.
Another example of the need to better address differences in ownership between the sexes was the fact that male-owned property was typically worth $25,000 more than female-owned housing.
“Female-only stock had a median value of $650,532 in the latest results, versus $675,975 for male-owned dwellings,” Davidson said.
He also said that there had been a slight drop in the number of homes owned by a mix of genders, down from 55.5 per cent last year to 55 per cent this year.
Female ownership in the regions
Across New Zealand, women solely owned more properties than men in six of 14 regions.
“Surprisingly” that included “more expensive” regions, such as Tasman-Nelson-Marlborough (20.2 per cent versus 19 per cent) and Wellington (22.8 per cent versus 20.9 per cent).
The other regions were Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Northland, and Bay of Plenty.
Gisborne had the highest percentage of women-only owned homes in the country with 24.9 per cent.
In Canterbury and Manawatū-Whanganui, the female-only and male-only ownership rates are equal.
Why is the study important?
Davidson said tracking rates of home ownership across different segments of society is essential because home ownership is often linked to better health and education outcomes, especially for children, and greater security in old age.
“Factors like the gender wage gap, estimated at around 9 per cent, have been identified as potential contributors to the delay in women accumulating assets, especially when it comes to building a deposit for home ownership.
“Understanding these dynamics is crucial for addressing disparities and fostering a more inclusive and equitable housing landscape.”