Surging home values due to a global environment of low interest rates, tight supply, and strong buyer demand may have widened the wealth gap between those with housing, and those without, according the CoreLogic’s latest report.
CoreLogic’s 2022 Women & Property report for New Zealand and Australia suggested women continue to have less overall share of property ownership pie than men, making them potentially disadvantaged by recent wealth gains from real estate.
In the 12 months to January 2022, CoreLogic estimated the total value of New Zealand’s residential real estate to increase from $1.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion, with property values rising 27.5%, or an average $222,000, over the same period.
“There’s so much equity held in real estate, so if you don’t own property, that’s a big source of household wealth and security you don’t have access to now and for your future and retirement. Income growth has also lagged property price rises over this time, putting that dream of home ownership further out of reach for many,” said Simone Moors, CoreLogic NZ country manager.
The report showed, however, that property gender gap is still smaller in New Zealand than in Australia. Kiwi women exclusively own 23.5% of property versus 24.2% owned by men – a difference of around 7,600 properties. In Australia, 26.6% of property had exclusively female ownership, compared to 29.9% owned by males.
The proportion of women who owned property jointly with men was also higher among Kiwi females than Australian females, resulting in a higher overall proportion of Kiwi women with at least partial property ownership.
The report found that investment properties account for all of the gender property gap in NZ, with men owning 28.4% of all investment property analysed, compared with women’s share of 23.6%.
“Based on the analysis, it is estimated that men own an additional 10,500 investment properties relative to women, while women own about 2,900 more owner-occupied properties than men (23.5% versus 23.2%),” said Kelvin Davidson, CoreLogic’s chief property economist and report supporting author. “It’s notable that men have higher representation in property as an investment. However, we don’t know for sure from this research what’s driving this. The gender income gap, with women on average earning less than men, surely has a role to play. Various studies through the years have also shown women can be more risk-averse – or alternatively a little less risk-indifferent – so this attitude to investing amongst women could also be a factor.”
Davidson said women also had a slightly higher rate than men for owner-occupied properties – 23.5% compared to 23.2% (with the remaining 53.3% of owner-occupied stock held by mixed genders).
