Pacific Peoples’ Homeownership in New Zealand

Pacific peoples in New Zealand have low rates of home-ownership compared with the average home-ownership rate in the country. There is a tendency also for Pacific peoples to have relatively low incomes and to live in areas with high concentrations of Pacific ethnicity. While incomes may, on average, be low, the areas with high Pacific concentrations are mostly in the Auckland region, and so may have high property values and rents relative to many parts of New Zealand. This combination contributes to a relatively high proportion of the Pacific population living in multifamily dwellings and in areas of social housing where there are high Pacific concentrations. The prevalence of social housing may diminish the attractiveness of properties in these areas, and hence, moderate the high values associated with them.

The purpose of this brief paper is to provide some supporting statistics and context pertaining to these observations.