MBIE releases new Housing Affordability Measure

10 May 2017

MBIE releases new Housing Affordability Measure

A new approach to measuring housing affordability will provide important information to support Government and other stakeholder decisions on housing, MBIE Deputy Chief Executive Building, Resources and Markets, Chris Bunny said today when releasing the Housing Affordability Measure.

“Following a review of the Official Statistics System in August 2012, Cabinet directed MBIE to develop a statistic on housing affordability, because none of the existing housing affordability measures captured the state of housing affordability at a detailed level,” says Mr Bunny.

Using household-level data from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), the Housing Affordability Measure provides a more accurate picture of how much New Zealanders spend on housing, and tracks whether housing is becoming more or less affordable over time for renters and aspiring first home buyers.

“MBIE developed the Housing Affordability Measure using a robust collaborative process with Statistics New Zealand and key technical stakeholders,” says Mr Bunny.

“The measure provides a picture of shifts in affordability, broken down by local council and by ward in Auckland. This robust measurement of how much income households have left after their basic household costs have been paid will inform policies and decisions for Kiwis and their housing.

“The more finely detailed information about smaller areas available in the Housing Affordability Measure can also be of use to the Government, local authorities and other organisations with an interest in housing affordability,” says Mr Bunny.

The results of this first measure cover the period March 2003 to June 2015, with new releases planned for quarterly intervals.

The findings of this first Housing Affordability Measure show that housing is more affordable for renters than for first home buyers. They also confirm that the Auckland market continues to be challenging for first home buyers.

“MBIE is releasing the Housing Affordability Measure today as an ‘experimental statistical series’, which means it will continue to be refined to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose and that results are robust and meaningful. We will work with Statistics New Zealand to refine the measure and get it adopted as part of the official statistics system. ” says Mr Bunny.

Find out more about the Housing Affordability Measure and read the HAM results paper here

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