Housing affordability, supply issues dominate Kiwi concerns

New research shows that war and terrorism are the top global concerns of Kiwis but many domestic fears involve housing

Housing affordability, supply issues dominate Kiwi concerns
New research shows that war and terrorism are the top global concerns of Kiwis but many domestic fears involve housing.

With the election edging ever closer, New Zealanders are concerned about several domestic issues including the poverty gap and homelessness.

Housing issues are high on the agenda of many of the Kiwis surveyed by Roy Morgan Research, including house prices, housing affordability & housing shortages.

“New Zealand heads to an election in under three months and housing issues are a huge concern for New Zealanders with just under 14% of respondents mentioning house prices or housing affordability and a further 10% mentioning housing shortages and homelessness,” said Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan.

These issues are most prominent in Auckland and Wellington.

Overall, economic issues were mentioned as concerns by 26.7% of respondents while housing issues were on the mind of 23.3%. The gap between rich and poor is on a par with house prices, mentioned by 14% of respondents while just 3% are concerned about unemployment. 

Other things that were high on the agenda of concerns among the 1,000 New Zealanders polled were social issues such as crime, social welfare and youth issues (18%) and government, public policy and human rights issues (13%).

The research was conducted in May.