Affordability

How much of disposable income goes on housing?

Flat

Housing now takes $22.30 of every $100, similar to $22.50 of every $100 in June 2024.

In the year ended June 2025 households spent $22.30 of every $100 of disposable income on housing costs. Stats NZ reports no statistically significant change from $22.50 in 2024. Among lower-income households, 57.7% of renters and 60.6% of mortgage holders spent 40% or more. A separate 40.6% figure is the share of households who said their income was not enough or only just enough — not a housing-cost burden.

Data as of 19 Feb 2026

Topic verdict rule: primary series official significance. Official significance, published CIs, then like-for-like year-on-year — never hand-set.

Housing costs per $100 disposable income

22.3 $ per $100

Official series

Housing costs per $100 disposable income

Flat

22.3 $ per $100 · moderate confidence

The source describes the latest reading as similar to the previous official point (not statistically significant at 95%).

Stats NZ · as of 19 Feb 2026

Aggregate housing costs / aggregate household disposable income, including households with no rent or mortgage. Years 2019–2022 are not imputed.

Lower-income renters spending 40%+ on housing

Insufficient

60.6 % · weak confidence

No official observations.

Stats NZ · as of 19 Feb 2026

Disposable income under $72,600.

Households who said income was not enough or only just enough

Insufficient

40.6 % · weak confidence

No official observations.

Stats NZ · as of 19 Feb 2026

Share of households who perceived their income as not enough or only just enough. This is not the 40% housing-cost burden series.

Average weekly housing costs

Worse

478 $/week · moderate confidence

Like-for-like change 20.1 from 2024-06-01 to 2025-06-01 against threshold 1.137; lower is better. Theil–Sen is longer-run context and does not override this headline.

Stats NZ · as of 19 Feb 2026

Average weekly housing costs for households with housing expenditure, year ended June 2025.

Published breakdowns

Official tables by region, income and household type where the agency publishes them. Group differences are associations, not causes.

Income

Group	Latest	Data as of
Income not enough or only just enough (opens in a new tab)	40.6 $ per $100	19 Feb 2026
Lower-income mortgage holders (opens in a new tab)	60.6 $ per $100	19 Feb 2026
Lower-income renters (opens in a new tab)	57.7 $ per $100	19 Feb 2026

Group gaps

Raw gap beside any official adjusted gap. Association only — not a cause.

income

Lower-income households spending 40% or more of disposable income on housing

Lower-income (under $72,600 disposable) compared with All households (housing costs $22.30 per $100). Period Year ended June 2025.

Raw gap

57.7% of lower-income renters at the 40%+ threshold

57.7 vs 22.3 percent

Official adjusted gap

Not published

An explained share is not published — CivicNZ does not invent one.

HES publishes the 40%+ rate for lower-income renters and mortgage holders. It does not publish an income-adjusted residual of the all-households $22.30 ratio.

Measured factors

Stratified
Household income / quintile
Official lower-income cut-off $72,600 disposable.
Stratified
Tenure (rent / mortgage / own outright)
57.7% of lower-income renters and 60.6% of lower-income mortgage holders.
Not published
Household type
The 2025 key facts do not split the 40%+ rate by household type.
Not published
Region
Regional 40%+ rates are not in the 2025 key-facts extract.
Not published
Ethnicity
The official table for this comparison does not apply or stratify this factor.
Not published
Mortgage interest
The official table for this comparison does not apply or stratify this factor.
Not published
Dwelling quality / size
The official table for this comparison does not apply or stratify this factor.
Not published
Hours and employment mix
The official table for this comparison does not apply or stratify this factor.
Not published
Tax and transfers
The official table for this comparison does not apply or stratify this factor.

Lower-income housing-cost overburden, year ended June 2025

Group	Share at 40%+
Lower-income renters	57.7%
Lower-income mortgage holders	60.6%

Lower income is disposable income under $72,600.

What this does not tell us

A gap is an association in the official table. It is not evidence that a policy, culture, or household choice caused the difference.
CivicNZ does not invent an official adjusted gap or an explained share when the agency did not publish one.
National averages hide households that pay typical prices on below-average incomes.
The $22.30 all-households ratio includes households with no rent or mortgage. It is not comparable to the 40%+ renter rate without that caveat.

Official source (opens in a new tab) · Data as of 19 Feb 2026

Notable findings

Worseweak evidence

Average weekly housing costs is worse

Average weekly housing costs moved from $458 a week to $478 a week (June 2024 → June 2025). Verdict Worse is derived (recent_like_for_like), not an editorial call. The movement is an association in the official series.

Official or openly licensed primary sources only. Definition changes and revisions can move a series without a real-world change.

Read the numbers →Official source

weak evidence

Lower-income (under $72,600 disposable) vs All households (housing costs $22.30 per $100)

Raw gap: 57.7% of lower-income renters at the 40%+ threshold. Official adjusted gap: Not published. An explained share is not published because a matching official adjusted gap is missing.

A gap is an association in the official table. It is not evidence that a policy, culture, or household choice caused the difference.

Read the numbers →Official source

What this does not tell us

The $ per $100 ratio includes households with no rent or mortgage.
The 40%+ lower-income rates are a different concept from the all-households ratio.
Housing in Aotearoa 2025 (June 2025) quoted $22.20 per $100 for the year ended June 2024. The later household income and housing-cost release restated 2024 as $22.50 and published 2025 as $22.30.
Stats NZ notified a HILS 2025 qualification-processing error on 29 September 2026. Income-based figures will be revised in February 2027. This desk uses the published table and does not guess the revision.

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