Property prices have risen dramatically since the turn of the century – and comparing them with wages shows how much the affordability equation has changed.
According to Trade Me, the median home price was about $170,000 in 2000. By late 2025, it had climbed to approximately $787,000 – more than four-and-a-half times as much.
But prices alone don’t tell the full story. Wages have also risen considerably over that period, so comparing home prices with earnings provides useful context about how affordability has changed.
In 2000, the median home was equivalent to 4.7 years of pre-tax pay for the average male earner and 7.0 years for the average female earner.
By 2025, those figures had increased to 8.8 years for men and 11.0 years for women.
What this means for buyers
The comparison highlights why getting into the property market can feel more challenging today than it did 25 years ago. Although incomes have increased, they haven’t kept pace with the rise in property prices.
Of course, comparing a home’s price with annual income is only one way to look at affordability. In practice, a buyer’s ability to purchase also depends on factors such as their deposit, existing debts and personal expenses, as well as the lending criteria they need to meet.
Saving a deposit can be a particularly significant hurdle when property prices are high relative to incomes. The larger the purchase price, the more money a buyer generally needs to accumulate to reach a given deposit percentage.
That’s why prospective buyers can benefit from understanding their financial position well before they’re ready to make an offer. Knowing how much they may be able to borrow and how large a deposit they might require can give them a clearer savings target and help them identify a realistic price range.
If you have clients who are working towards a property purchase, we’d be happy to help them understand their borrowing position and what they may need to do to become finance-ready. Please feel free to send them our way.
