Suburb housing

Housing costs across West Coast

The West Coast is the long strip from Karamea to Haast, the smallest regional population in the country spread across a very large area. Mining, extraction, dairy, forestry, conservation and tourism make up the economy, and housing is the cheapest in New Zealand by a clear margin. Greymouth, Westport and Hokitika are the main centres and each is small enough that a single statistical area can cover a substantial part of it. The region has lost population over several decades, which shows in low housing costs and in a high share of older dwellings.

Small populations mean these figures move more between Censuses than elsewhere and carry more rounding noise. Very low rents are genuine, and are frequently based on a handful of renting households, so treat a single area's median as indicative rather than precise.

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