KEY POINTS:
Figures from last year's census have confirmed that fewer people now own the home they live in and fewer households live in a detached building.
One in three households (33 per cent) did not own the house they lived in, according to the 2006 census, up from 32
per cent in 2001 and 29 per cent in 1996.
The figure for those who did own their own house -- 70 per cent -- is down from a peak of 74 per cent in the 1991 census, though Statistics New Zealand said comparisons were difficult because more homes are owned through family trusts.
Of dwellings held in family trusts, 53 per cent did not have a mortgage.
People living in the Tasman and West Coast regions were the most likely to own their own house and people in Auckland were the least likely.
The total number of occupied private dwellings on census night was 1.47 million, up 8 per cent from the 2001 census.
Most occupied dwellings (81 per cent) are still separate houses but there are marked differences in the type of properties that people live in between regions.
The number of dwellings joined to another dwelling has shot up 20 per cent since 2001.
Wellington region has the highest proportion of dwellings joined to another dwelling at 25 per cent, leading Auckland on 24 per cent. Tasman and Southland were the lowest on 8 per cent.
The average household size has barely changed in a decade -- it was 2.7 people in 2006 and 2.8 people in 1996.
Nearly one in two people in Northland (49 per cent) own their own house, the highest rate in the country. Statistics NZ said it was probably because of the older average age in the region.
Only 22 per cent of people identifying themselves with Pacific ethnic groups owned their own dwelling, which Statistics NZ put down to more young people in the group.
In 2006 the median weekly rent paid was $201.
A house with three bedrooms is still the most common dwelling in New Zealand but the proportion of four-five and six bedroom dwellings is growing.
Electricity was used to heat 75 per cent of occupied dwellings. The use of wood and coal is falling.
- NZPA