One in five (20%) male Gen Zs are owners, and 15% of Millennial males, again comfortably above the female figures of 13% and 9% respectively.
Cotality NZ’s chief property economist, Kelvin Davidson, told The Front Page that a persistent gender pay gap meant women generally had less income to save and borrow.
“If you go back three or five years, it was about a 9% wage gap. So females are getting paid about 9% less for a very similar job. That gap has closed to 5%.
“So, that’s good, but obviously more needs to be done.
“In terms of property ownership, it’s going to be harder to afford a property. But the survey’s also telling us there’s perhaps some sort of information gap in the sense of understanding the home-buying process.
“Of the respondents who haven’t owned a property or don’t own a property now, about 16% said they just don’t know where to start, and that was about 6% for males.
“Those figures aren’t massive, but it’s quite a reasonable gap between male and female.
“So, if we can fix the income gap, if we can better target educational processes around home-buying, that will all help to make a difference.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Housing affordability and current conditions
- Shifts in attitudes towards investment property
- Sustainability and housing quality
- Why the gender gap matters long-term.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting, who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
