KEY POINTS:
The median weekly mortgage payment rose by $72 in the June year from the previous 12 months, new figures show.
The 27.8 per cent rise in median mortgages, for those making mortgage payments, took median weekly payments to $328 from $256, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.
The rise was mainly due to an increase in mortgage interest payments.
In the latest year, 28 per cent (135,700) of New Zealand households with a mortgage paid more than $500 a week in mortgage payments, up from 18 per cent (86,300) in 2006/07.
Just over 37,200 households, or 8 per cent, were paying more than $800 a week in the latest year, SNZ said.
The median weekly mortgage payment in Auckland was $472, Wellington $350, Canterbury $307, the rest of the North Island $262, and the rest of the South Island $242.
The figures are among data in SNZ's Household Economic Survey (Income), a shortened version of the full triennial Household Economic Survey. It is the first time the shortened survey has been run.
It showed the median annual household regular income rose 3.9 per cent in the latest year to $57,947. The average annual household income from regular sources rose 8.8 per cent to $73,952.
In Auckland the median annual household income was $70,995, with Wellington on $69,918, while the lowest was in the rest of the North Island with $50,295.
For those aged 15 years and over, median annual personal income from regular sources rose 8.8 per cent to $27,606.
For those receiving regular income, the 40-44 year age group had the highest dollar increase in median annual regular income, rising $7691 to $41,714.
They were followed by the 60-64 age group, with an increase of $5202 to $29,200.
- NZPA
