Embargoed until 10:45am – 26 November 2009
Rents up, mortgage payments down
Results from the Household Economic Survey (Income) (HES (Income)) for the year ended June 2009 show no overall change
in average weekly expenditure on housing costs from the previous year, Statistics New Zealand said today. This result
was made up of an increase across all households in average weekly property and ground rent payments (up 8.1 percent),
offset by decreases in average mortgage principal repayments (down 7.1 percent) and average mortgage interest payments
(down 2.8 percent).
For those making rent payments, median (half pay more, half pay less) weekly rent payments increased from $220 in
2007/08 to $241 in 2008/09 (up 9.5 percent). Meanwhile, median weekly mortgage payments, for those making these
payments, decreased from $328 in 2007/08 to $312 in 2008/09 (down 4.8 percent), partly reflecting a decrease in mortgage
interest rates charged over the survey period.
For those paying rent, median weekly rent payments in the five regions surveyed were as follows: Auckland ($300),
Wellington ($250), Canterbury ($245), Rest of North Island ($200), and Rest of South Island ($178). Meanwhile, median
weekly mortgage payments, for those making these payments, were as follows: Auckland ($414), Wellington ($340),
Canterbury ($318), Rest of North Island ($262), and Rest of South Island ($219).
Other survey results showed that average (mean) annual household income was $78,876 in 2008/09, up 5.6 percent from
2007/08. The increase was driven primarily by an increase in aggregate wage and salary income.
HES (Income) is a shortened version of the three-yearly full Household Economic Survey. It ran for the first time in the
year ended 30 June 2008, and is run in each of the two years between the full HES to collect data on household and
personal income, living standards, and housing costs.
ENDS