Kiwi women fall behind in sole home-owning stakes

Men are the sole owners of 31,000 more homes in New Zealand than women, a 1.8 per cent difference, a CoreLogic report reveals.

And while the difference might not sound significant, CoreLogic New Zealand country manager Simone Moors said it had flow-on effects in the real world, from wealth creation and the ability to self-provide in retirement.

The report, which analysed 1.7 million New Zealand properties, drew a connection between the 9.5 per cent gender pay gap in New Zealand and the gender wealth gap. The gender pay gap is the difference in median hourly earnings for men and women.

“As we had expected before we conducted the analysis, we found a lower rate of property ownership for females, likely because of the gender pay gap to some degree,” Moors said ahead of International Women’s Day today.

“The lower the income, the harder it is to access property, and this has significant implications for women, especially if we are trying to create an environment where there is equal opportunity for property acquisition,” said Moors.

The report described property ownership as a “pillar” of retirement, as outright property ownership reduced housing costs when income dropped and could greatly reduce the incidence of poverty in retirement.

Shared ownership between genders was the most common type of home ownership in New Zealand, accounting for 56.8 per cent of the properties analysed.

Auckland had the highest share of female-only property ownership, at 23.7 per cent.

On the other hand, another report has found that property is the top area Kiwi women want to invest in.

The report from Finder revealed 25 per cent of women listed “property” as the most likely area they would invest in, followed by KiwiSaver and term deposits.

However, it found men more likely (54 per cent) to already own their first home than women ( 44 per cent).

Moors said there was a need to increase broader provisions for those who lacked property-market access.

“Such as social provisions for women who may have recently exited property ownership as a result of a relationship breakdown and an increase to KiwiSaver provisions for those who have been unable to buy a property during their working life.”