Latest Housing Affordability Measure (HAM) released
13 June 2018
The Ministry of Business Innovation
and Employment (MBIE) has released the latest Housing
Affordability Measure (HAM) data midday today, 13 June 2018.
Results cover the time period from March 2016 up to March
2017.
The results are available on the MBIE website.
The HAM uses household-level data from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to provide a detailed picture of housing affordability trends, including at a territorial authority level (and ward level in Auckland).
The major change that can be seen in the most recent data is worsening affordability for first-home buyers at that national level, driven by higher house prices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Tauranga. In the previous HAM data release, affordability in Christchurch and Wellington was improving and Auckland’s affordability was largely stable.
By contrast, rental affordability was largely stable at the national level. Rental affordability improved in Auckland and Tauranga City, was flat in Hamilton City and Wellington City, but worsened in Christchurch.
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