Editing Wellington (section)

==Housing and real estate==
{{See also|Housing in New Zealand}}
[[File:N2 Oriental Bay.jpg|thumb|Apartments at [[Oriental Bay]]]]<!--leave image here to avoid blank lines-->

=== House prices ===

==== Historic ====
Wellington experienced a real estate boom in the early 2000s and the effects of the international property bust at the start of 2007. In 2005, the market was described as "robust".<ref>{{cite news|author=Anne Gibson|title=Robust market sprouts apartments|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=3 August 2005|access-date=29 July 2009|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10338845|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105050154/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10338845|archive-date=5 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2008, property values had declined by about 9.3% over a 12-month period, according to one estimate. More expensive properties declined more steeply, sometimes by as much as 20%.<ref>{{cite news|author=Andrea Milner|title=Post properties get biggest pounding|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=21 June 2009|access-date=29 July 2009|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wellington-region/news/article.cfm?l_id=153&objectid=10579767|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105174204/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wellington-region/news/article.cfm?l_id=153&objectid=10579767|archive-date=5 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> "From 2004 to early 2007, rental yields were eroded and positive cash flow in property investments disappeared as house values climbed faster than rents. Then that trend reversed and yields slowly began improving", according to two ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' reporters writing in May 2009.<ref name="Andrea Milner and Jonathan Milne">{{cite news|author=Andrea Milner and Jonathan Milne|title=Real Estate: Rental buys looking good|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=29 July 2009|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10571367|date=10 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830025701/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10571367|archive-date=30 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In the middle of 2009, house prices had dropped, interest rates were low, and buy-to-let property investment was again looking attractive, particularly in the Lambton precinct, according to these two reporters.<ref name="Andrea Milner and Jonathan Milne" />

==== Current ====
Since 2009, house prices in Wellington have increased significantly. In May 2021, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reported the median house price was $1,057,000 in Wellington City, $930,000 in Porirua, $873,500 in Lower Hutt and $828,000 in Upper Hutt, compared to a national median house price of $820,000.<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 January 2021|title=Monthly Property Report|url=https://www.reinz.co.nz/Media/Default/Statistic%20Documents/2020/December/REINZ%20Monthly%20Property%20Report%20-%20December%202020.pdf|access-date=23 January 2021|publisher=REINZ|archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116041217/https://www.reinz.co.nz/Media/Default/Statistic%20Documents/2020/December/REINZ%20Monthly%20Property%20Report%20-%20December%202020.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
The substantial increase in house prices has made it difficult for first home buyers to purchase a home in the city and is also credited with pushing up the house prices in neighbouring cities like Porirua.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Te Ora|first=Ethan|date=12 March 2021|title=Wellington's median house price soars to $1.1m, while Porirua jumps by $273,000 in one month|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124504737/wellingtons-median-house-price-soars-to-11m-while-porirua-jumps-by-273000-in-one-month|access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref> Wellington house prices peaked in February 2022, and by December 2023 had fallen by 25%.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Nicola |date=23 December 2023 |title=When will house prices return to their pre-slump peaks? |url=https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/when-will-house-prices-return-to-their-pre-slump-peaks-44645 |access-date=21 November 2024 |work=OneRoof}}</ref> 

Housing costs have been identified as making it difficult for some professions, like nurses, to afford to live in Wellington.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Witton|first=Bridie|title=High turnover of nurses in Wellington's emergency department worries union|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125400959/high-turnover-of-nurses-in-wellingtons-emergency-department-worries-union|access-date=25 June 2021|publisher=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |location=New Zealand|date=10 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Witton|first=Bridie|date=28 May 2021|title=Capital's housing crisis hits bowel screening programme as nurses leave for more affordable regions|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington-top-stories/125252258/capitals-housing-crisis-hits-bowel-screening-programme-as-nurses-leave-for-more-affordable-regions|access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref> The median rent in Wellington has also increased significantly in recent years to $600 per week, higher even than Auckland.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wellington the first region to top $600 median weekly rent, Porirua reaches $680|date=11 February 2021|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/124207576/wellington-the-first-region-to-top-600-median-weekly-rent-porirua-reaches-680|access-date=25 June 2021}}</ref>

=== Housing quality ===
Despite the high cost of housing in the capital, the quality of housing in Wellington has been criticised as being poor. 18.4% of houses in Wellington City are sometimes or always mouldy and 24% are sometimes or always damp.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McKenzie|first=Peter|date=7 October 2020|title=Welcome to Mouldy-wood, Aotearoa|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/07-10-2020/welcome-to-mouldy-wood-aotearoa/|access-date=25 June 2021|website=[[The Spinoff]] }}</ref> Both of these are higher than the New Zealand average.

=== Demographics ===
[[File:Classic weatherboards in Wellington, NZ.jpg|thumb|left|A row of classic [[weatherboard|weatherboard houses]] in the [[Mount Victoria (Wellington suburb)|Mount Victoria]] neighbourhood, emblematic of the style of the area]]
A Wellington City Council survey conducted in March 2009 found the typical central city apartment dweller was a New Zealand native aged 24 to 35 with a professional job in the downtown area, with household income higher than surrounding areas.<ref name="Apartment Dwellers">{{cite web|url=http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/services/environment-and-waste/urban-development/files/apartment-survey-report.pdf|title=Central City Apartment Dwellers Survey – a summary of results|date=March 2009|work=Wellington Government|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111044619/http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/services/environment-and-waste/urban-development/files/apartment-survey-report.pdf|archive-date=11 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Three-quarters (73%) walked to work or university, 13% travelled by car, 6% by bus, 2% bicycled (although 31% own bicycles), and did not travel very far since 73% worked or studied in the central city.<ref name="Apartment Dwellers" /> The large majority (88%) did not have children in their apartments; 39% were couples without children; 32% were single-person households; 15% were groups of people flatting together.<ref name="Apartment Dwellers" /> Most (56%) owned their apartment; 42% rented.<ref name="Apartment Dwellers" /> The report continued: "The four most important reasons for living in an apartment were given as lifestyle and city living (23%), close to work (20%), close to shops and cafes (11%) and low maintenance (11%) ... City noise and noise from neighbours were the main turnoffs for apartment dwellers (27%), followed by a lack of outdoor space (17%), living close to neighbours (9%) and apartment size and a lack of storage space (8%)."<ref name="Apartment Dwellers" /><ref>{{cite news|title=It's a great life downtown ... except for the noise|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=14 April 2009|access-date=29 July 2009|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wellington-city-council/news/article.cfm?o_id=240&objectid=10566448|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105044435/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wellington-city-council/news/article.cfm?o_id=240&objectid=10566448|archive-date=5 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Households are primarily one-family, making up 66.9% of households, followed by single-person households (24.7%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2013 census for the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities).<ref>{{NZ Quickstats2013|14322|Wellington Region}}</ref>