Gen X and younger boomers are also less likely to own homes
Millennials have seen the steepest fall in homeownership of any generation in New Zealand.
In 2023, people aged 30 to 45 were 10 to 12 percentage points less likely to own the home they lived in than people the same age in 2001, according to Infometrics analysis of Stats NZ census data carried out for Stuff.
The analysis tracks individuals across every census over the two decades. It counts people who own or part-own their home, as well as those living in a home owned by a direct relative such as a parent.
Why the measures differ
The findings appear to sit at odds with data showing homeownership improved between the 2018 and 2023 censuses. The difference is in what is being measured. Household-level figures can look stronger because more people live together and the population is ageing. On an individual basis, ownership has kept slipping since 2018, although more slowly.
A hurdle that keeps rising
Infometrics managing director Gareth Kiernan (pictured left) pointed to the house price boom between 2002 and 2008 as a turning point. Affordability worsened sharply over that period, and people who hadn’t bought before the boom found it harder to buy afterwards. Once buyers missed that window, Kiernan said, “the hurdle becomes even higher for you over time”.
Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub (pictured right) said the effect had built up over time, affecting both people who missed out around 25 years ago and those who have missed out since.
Demand remains, but buyers are older. Separate Trade Me research found 82% of New Zealanders aged 20 to 30 intend to buy, while Cotality now puts the average age of a first-home buyer at 35.
Signs of a turnaround
Conditions have shifted since the last census. National house prices have fallen, most recently easing 2.3% year on year to a median of $755,000 in September 2026, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) data. Incomes have grown, and more first-home buyers have entered the market. New Zealand Banking Association (NZBA) figures show first-home buyers took out 22.4% of the 72,209 new home loans opened in the six months to June.
Logan Reardon, a mortgage adviser with Loan Market, said he was seeing that change among his clients: “Certainly more younger people are managing to scrape in right now”.
Older generations slip too
The decline extends well beyond younger buyers. Gen X, aged 46 to 61, recorded a significant drop, and ownership also eased among boomers, though much less among the oldest. For people aged 75 to 79, the rate dropped by only 0.2 percentage points over the 22 years.
With more New Zealanders now approaching retirement as renters, Kiernan noted that retirement support had largely been “designed on the premise that people do own their own home”.
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