04.06.04 :: Terrence Aschoff, Manager CHRANZ

The Centre for Housing Research, Aotearoa New Zealand (CHRANZ) has released research, commissioned from DTZ New Zealand, that provides a detailed analysis and description of the New Zealand housing sector and key changes in is structure over the last twenty years.

“The research report The Changing Structure of the Housing Sector in New Zealand provides a firm base for consideration of the policy implications of the trends identified, areas where further research is required and is a useful reference document. CHRANZ expects that anyone with an interest in housing in New Zealand will find this report useful,” said Terrence Aschoff, Manager, CHRANZ.

Upcoming research from CHRANZ’s housing research programme includes a major research project that provides an analysis of supported accommodation options for older people in New Zealand.

Key Research Findings:
The key determinants of the structure of the New Zealand housing market over the last 20 years have been Government involvement and intervention, significant changes in the demographic composition of our society and the increased availability of credit.

The key changes in the structure of the New Zealand housing market since the early 1980s include:

• A significant reduction in government’s direct involvement in the housing market. It is now restricted to:
  • Being a housing provider of last resort to those most in need.
  • Creator and manager of the institutional framework within which the housing market operates.
• Rapid escalation in housing values in the main centres compared to the rest of the country.
• Escalation of household housing costs as a percentage of income.
• Decline in home ownership affordability to the extent that some groups have not been able to maintain ownership goals.
• Increase in the number of private-rented dwellings.
• Changes in the social housing sector - stock numbers and delivery.
• Changes in the regulatory framework for planning and building.
• Financial market deregulation.
• Intensification of development, particularly in Auckland and Wellington.
• Changes in household composition, which is likely to impact on the demand for the physical housing stock in the future.

In DTZ’s view, given the trends identified, areas which warrant further research include:

• The impact that the housing market has had on the wider community.
• The impact that the housing market has had on the wider economy.
• The impacts of internal and external migration on the housing market.
• The private-rented market and the impact of this market on the overall property market.
• The housing aspirations and motivations of younger adult age cohorts.
• The impact that the decline in housing affordability is having with particular reference to the vulnerable groups within our society.
• The condition of New Zealand’s housing stock and the extent that it has been modified.
• Investigating the drivers for the change in the homeownership rates.
• The social implications of lower home ownership rates on our society.
• How the ageing population will change demand and its implications on the housing market.
• The extent of housing stress within our society and its distribution around the country.

A full copy of the report is available on the CHRANZ web site at www.chranz.co.nz

For further information please contact:

Ian Mitchell
Research Manager
DTZ New Zealand
E: ian.mitchell@dtz.co.nz
DDI: 917 9757
M: 021 389 335

Terrence Aschoff
Manager, CHRANZ
28 Grey Street
PO Box 2628
Wellington

DD: 04 494 7416
M: 025 290 7504
E: terrence.aschoff@chranz.co.nz
E: kainga.tipu@chranz.co.nz