There was no meaningful movement in the main measures of housing affordability in November as the bottom end of the housing market moved sideways in quiet trade and interest rate rises all but stalled. According to the Real Estate Institute of NZ, the national lower quartile selling price was $600,000 in November. The lower quartile price is the price point at which 75% of sales are above and 25% are below, representing the most affordable end of the housing market that's of most interest to potential first home buyers. Those tiny movements in prices and mortgage rates would have pushed up the mortgage payments on a home purchased at the national lower quartile price by about $4 a week. So overall, affordability for typical first home buyers improved by about $2 a week in November.

Source: Stuff December 19, 2023 14:11 UTC