Rising house prices drive up New Zealand's net worth

Soaring house prices helped drive up New Zealand's net worth by 9 percent to 1.39 trillion NZ dollars (972.72 billion U.S. dollars) over the year ending March 2015, the government statistics agency said Friday.

Except for a 3-percent decline in 2009, net worth had grown steadily from just over 1 trillion NZ dollars (699.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.

From 2007 to 2015, household net worth rose by 35 percent to about 1.23 billion NZ dollars (860.87 million U.S. dollars).

Investment in land and buildings (non-financial assets) was a significant contributor to this increase, although it was partly offset by increased mortgage debt (loans liabilities).

Over the eight years, households also built up wealth through increased bank deposits, which were up 58 percent, investment in business shares (up 28 percent), and insurance and superannuation funds (up 90 percent).

The value of all assets owned by New Zealanders was 3.95 trillion NZ dollars (2.76 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2015, with non-financial assets (land and buildings; plant, machinery and equipment; and business inventories) valued at 1.55 trillion NZ dollars (1.08 trillion U.S. dollars).

"Net worth reflects the balance of what New Zealanders own and what they owe, that is, assets minus debts held by households and government," national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said in a statement.

From 2007 to 2015, the net amount New Zealanders owed to the rest of the world rose from 130 billion NZ dollars (90.98 billion U.S. dollars) to 153 billion NZ dollars (107.08 billion U.S. dollars). Endit