While some signs of progress have emerged, affordability and supply issues persist across the country
Despite political momentum, early policy implementation, and scattered stories of success, New Zealand’s housing crisis is far from over.
Though supply has increased and housing affordability has shown slight improvement, both experts and government officials agreed that the fundamentals remain unchanged — and a true solution is still years away.
A glimmer of hope in Christchurch
For Christchurch resident Sarah Parker, the long search for a home finally paid off after three years of frustration.
“It’s a great little property. There’s outdoor space, and three car parks, which is incredible, and it’s real close ... really close to town as well,” Parker told The Post. “So, I kind of hit the jackpot a little bit.”
At 25, Parker was able to purchase a $425,000 two-bedroom unit with a 10% deposit and an $80,000 income. While proud of her solo achievement, she acknowledged it wasn’t easy.
“It’s been tough… I’d say it’s hard to do by yourself, and I am obviously really proud that I can say it’s all mine.”
Her journey was made possible by a salary bump, improved responsiveness from banks, and the benefits of recent OCR cuts, which reduced mortgage costs.
Minister says housing crisis is far from over
Housing Minister Chris Bishop (pictured left) acknowledged Parker’s success but made it clear that such cases are still exceptions.
“I mean, $425, two-beddy unit, 10% deposit in Christchurch, a very liveable city, that’s like good. That’s a good thing, good on her,” Bishop said.
But the overall picture, he said, is still grim.
“We’ve seen some signs of progress over the last 18 months, two years. But you can’t say we don’t have a crisis. We do.”
Stats NZ reported that since 2017, 251,200 new homes have been built — yet population growth of around 500,000 people in the same period has outpaced supply.
Economist: “The problems remain”
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub (pictured right), author of Generation Rent, agreed with the general consensus.
“The problems remain, the expressions of the housing crisis remain very relevant and very prevalent,” Eaqub told The Post. “But in terms of the fundamentals for the kinds of things that will gradually and structurally make change, they’re absolutely in place.”
He added that lower-income households are still squeezed, with rental subsidies rising and housing support now costing the government $5 billion annually.
“We’re talking about 400,000 people who are receiving subsidies, and we’re saying, ‘We’ll just give you money, but we’ll do nothing to create supply to meet the demand.’ It’s madness,” Eaqub said.
Building boom slows, but long-term outlook better
The number of building consents soared between 2020 and 2022, peaking at nearly 51,000 new dwellings. But by February 2025, that number had fallen back to 33,595, with a larger share of multi-unit homes.
“We had two phenomenal years in ‘21 and ’22, but that’s the only good two years out of the last 47,” Eaqub said.
He added that although high interest rates and financing challenges are cyclical, the underlying policy settings are more promising than ever before.
Housing still “severely unaffordable” nationwide
Despite improved housing accessibility driven by falling property values, rising incomes, and lower mortgage rates, affordability remains a major concern.
According to interest.co.nz, the median house price now sits at 6.54 times the median income — down from a pandemic peak of 9.3 but still firmly in the “severely unaffordable” range.
- Auckland: 8.14 times income
- Wellington: 6.21 times income
- Christchurch: 6.31 times income
- Queenstown: a high of 12.96 times income
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Report defines any ratio above 5.1 as severely unaffordable, The Post reported.
Government and opposition agree on direction — mostly
Bishop said the government is focused on flexible land markets and infrastructure funding to increase housing supply.
“All of the international evidence shows that the most fundamental sustainable way in the long term to fix housing is to have flexible land markets and flexible infrastructure funding. And that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty agreed that housing remains in crisis.
“There is a shortage of houses across the board, and when homelessness is increasing, I don’t think how anyone could objectively look at that and say that things are going well,” McAnulty said.
He criticised the government for reintroducing interest deductibility for landlords and questions whether enough is being done to ensure those most in need can access public housing.
Emergency housing still in high demand
As of February, 20,056 people were on the public housing wait list, down by nearly 4,000 from a year earlier. But community housing providers reported demand remains high, particularly in Auckland, The Post reported.
“In Auckland, it’s gone up 53% in four months, and they’re all saying the exact same thing… people that are presenting with genuine need simply cannot get into emergency housing,” McAnulty said.
Bishop countered that the government is restructuring Kāinga Ora to be more efficient and boosting partnerships with community providers.
“There’s a lot of really good things happening,” he said.
A shift in housing politics, but the crisis persists
“There’s a contest of ideas in the political competition around who’s got the better ideas and better solutions, but the fundamentals [of the policies] are much the same,” Eaqub said.
And while Christchurch homeowner Sarah Parker doesn’t see the system as broken, she knows she’s one of the lucky ones.
“I just think that people shouldn’t be discouraged,” Parker told The Post.
