Dwelling And Household Estimates: March 2026 Quarter

National dwelling and household estimates are used for many purposes including planning, policy formation, business decisions, and as 'bottom lines' in the calculation of market coverage rates.

Key facts

At 31 March 2026, the estimated number of:

• private dwellings is 2,117,500
• households is 2,064,700.

This release includes a revision to the private dwelling and household estimates from March 2018 to December 2025, as noted in the December 2025 quarter release. This is to correct an error in the base (starting point) derived from the 2023 Census, where dwellings under construction were incorrectly included in the estimates. The revision also includes a correction to the tenure ratios derived from 2023 Census.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Revised private dwelling estimates

The private dwelling estimates have been revised from March 2018 to December 2025.

The largest revision of total private dwellings is as at 31 December 2025, where the estimated number of dwellings decreased by 30,900 (1.4 percent) to 2,110,300.

The tenure distribution has been revised to incorporate a change in the tenure proportions derived from the corrected 2023 base. The owner-occupied proportion has been revised down to 66.0 percent from 67.5 percent, the rented proportion has been revised up to 31.9 percent from 30.7 percent, and the provided free proportion has been revised up to 2.1 percent from 1.9 percent.

The largest revision of private dwellings by tenure is as at 31 March 2023, where the estimated number of:

• owner-occupied dwellings decreased by 47,100 (3.4 percent)
• rented dwellings increased by 15,500 (2.5 percent)
• provided free dwellings increased by 4,300 (11.4 percent).

Revised household estimates

Household estimates remain on a 2018-base. These estimates are a measure of the number of private dwellings that are usually occupied. However, household estimates by tenure from the March 2018 quarter onwards have been revised to incorporate the updated tenure proportions. This revision does not impact the total household estimates, which are unchanged.

The largest revision is as at 31 March 2023, where the estimated number of:

• owner-occupied households decreased by 28,000 (2.1 percent)
• rented households increased by 23,300 (3.9 percent)
• provided free households increased by 4,700 (12.9 percent).

The household estimates will be rebased after the release of the 2023-base family and household projections, which will include an estimate of the number of households as at 30 June 2023. The 2023-base family and household projections are planned for release in late 2026. The household estimates implicitly include an allowance for households not counted by the 2023 Census, including those missed by the census and households that were absent from their usual address on census night (either elsewhere in New Zealand or overseas).

How we estimate the number of private dwellings and households

The Census of Population and Dwellings is the base for the private dwelling estimates. The household estimates are derived indirectly from the estimated resident population and the estimated living arrangement type rates from each census.

From each base, we update the estimates based on building consents, with an appropriate lag (currently 12 months) to allow for completion of the dwelling and weighted down to allow for consents that are not fulfilled and for dwellings that are demolished or destroyed. The tenure distribution (owner-occupied, rented, or provided free) is estimated based on the latest census data and historical trends. These post-censal estimates are subsequently revised when new census results become available.

Assumptions from March 2023 onward

The following assumptions apply to the private dwelling estimates from March 2023, and will be reviewed after new census data (or other information) become available:

• The building consent lag is assumed to be 12 months, and this is unchanged from the initial 2023 rebasing. This twelve-month lag applies to both dwelling and household estimates from June 2018. The longer lag compared with before June 2018 reflects an increasing average length of time from building consent to dwelling completion.
• A weighting factor of 0.89 is applied to building consents, and this has been revised down from 0.92. This is the average intercensal weighting factor observed between the 1991 and 2023 Censuses. The reduction in weighting factor reflects the number of dwellings in the 2023 base being revised down. The updated weighting factor implies that for every 100 new homes consented at the national level, a net 89 private dwellings will be completed (12 months after consent).
• The tenure proportion for owner-occupied decreases each quarter while the rented proportion increases, and this is unchanged from the initial 2023 rebasing, although the tenure proportions have been revised. The quarterly change is the difference between the 2023 Census owner-occupied proportion and the average of the owner-occupied proportion from 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses divided over 20 quarters. Provided free is held constant at the 2023 Census level. These tenure proportions apply to both dwelling and household estimates from March 2023.

The tenure proportions following the 2023 Census are calculated using assumptions and may not account for real-world changes after that date.

Access data in Infoshare

Use Infoshare for quarterly dwelling and household estimates data:

Subject category: Population
Group: Demography dwelling and household estimates - DDE

There are six series for this data - as at quarter ended, mean quarter ended, and mean year ended, for both dwellings and households. Choose the series you wish to view, and then select the variables required (for the latest data, choose the top quarter shown). Tables can be downloaded/saved by choosing the relevant option under the 'Save table' drop-down box.

Definitions and metadata

Dwelling and household estimates - DataInfo+ gives information about dwelling and household estimates including information on the limitations of estimates.

Estimated private dwellings and households - DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce New Zealand's private dwellings and household statistics, and related metadata.

Dwelling concepts - DataInfo+ provides definitions of terms used in this release.

Household concepts - DataInfo+ provides definitions of terms used in this release.

Population concepts - DataInfo+ provides definitions of terms used in this release.

Technical enquiries

Kim Dunstan
[email protected]
04 931 4600

ISSN 2382-0950

Next release

Dwelling and household estimates: June 2026 quarter will be released on 7 July 2026.