Rates of home ownership are higher for Pākehā, for older new Zealanders and for people who are not disabled. The growing gap between owner-occupiers and others thus contributes to a number of inequities between major demographic groups… Housing affordability is a particular problem for low-income renters, with Aotearoa New Zealand being the worst country in the OECD on one measure. This is illustrated in Figure 79 above, with a 65-year-old’s wealth now 6.3 times that of a 35-year-old, compared to 4.3 in 2001. So basically, the massive increase in house and rent prices over decades is locking younger Kiwis out of home ownership. The upshot is that New Zealand has transformed from an egalitarian society where social and economic success were open to all into a class-based society where ‘dynastic wealth’ is now the main determinant of one’s success.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 02, 2022 06:22 UTC