Under-building not a nationwide problem

They have analysed housing supply in each region apart from Canterbury. Their report found Auckland had a big housing shortage and there was some evidence of underbuilding in Wellington, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

Everywhere else, there is no compelling evidence of underbuilding.

They worked out how many houses were needed based on a people-per-house measure and tracked changes in that measure over a number of years. Areas where the number of people per house was increasing were likely suffering a shortage in new building. The number should be gradually declining.

The average number of people per house ranges from 2.3 in Otago to three in Auckland.