New figures show households have lent more than they have borrowed
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Rising property prices in the three years to 2016 have boosted the New Zealand household sector’s assets by $184 billion, according to new figures.
According to Statistics New Zealand, the household sector’s net worth reached $1.312 billion in March 2016.
The growth in property values over the four years contributed 51% of the $364 billion rise in household net worth over this period. In comparison, household property values rose $1.5 billion over the five years to 2012.
The figures show that from 2013 to 2016, the household sector borrowed additional loans of $36 billion. During the same period, households deposited an extra $45 billion at banks, but they withdrew $6 billion from their equity and investment fund asset holdings.
“From 2008 to 2016 households lent more than they borrowed,” National Accounts Senior Manager Gary Dunnet said.
The main funding sources for 2008 to 2016 were overseas lenders, households, investment funds, and the EQC and ACC schemes that are administered by central government. Pension funds were not significant lenders in their own right, but they provided resources to investment funds.
“These are some of the results from this first release of provisional accumulation accounts for New Zealand,” Dunnet said. “This set of statistics adds to the suite of integrated national accounts statistics for the country.”
