Story: Families: a history

Rates of home ownership

Rates of home ownership rose during the 1920s, dropped during the depression years in the 1930s and peaked at 73.8% of households in 1991. Family home ownership was supported by access to low-interest state mortgages. From 1958 to 1991 parents could use family-benefit payments for their children to create a deposit for a home, add rooms when additional children were born or reduce existing mortgages. Home-ownership rates declined in the 1990s and early 21st century as housing prices rose and those who were not already owners found it difficult to accumulate the necessary deposit and meet mortgage payments.

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How to cite this page:

Ian Pool and Rosemary Du Plessis, 'Families: a history - Families, wars and economic hardship: 1914–1944', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/graph/30207/rates-of-home-ownership (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Ian Pool and Rosemary Du Plessis, published 5 May 2011, updated 1 Jul 2017