Canstar’s First Consumer Pulse Report Reveals Kiwis’ Financial Secrets

Canstar is today thrilled to release its inaugural Consumer Pulse report, the result of insights from over 18,000 New Zealanders collected in research waves from February last year to January this year. The survey, which will be run annually, tracks the state of Kiwis’ finances, including our worries, hopes and dreams around:

• Our pain points – money worries and debt levels

• Our piggy banks – savings habits and goals

• Our property – a ‘state of the nation’ on housing

Jose George, Canstar NZ General Manager, said the report gave a snapshot of Kiwis’ lives over an extraordinary period, and would be an important baseline to track our financial state over the coming years. “This report reveals so much about how we’ve been managing our finances in such a fast-moving time. It’ll be fascinating to see how this changes given the dramatic era we are living through.”

The report dives into our year of the big squeeze, revealing how our financial fears have changed over the year. It shows the price of groceries tracking up steadily over 2021 was a worry – one that has now exploded into the public awareness.

It also shows how we live well outside our means, with the majority of us spending more than we earn, and a fifth living payday to payday. Few of us save, while the pandemic and restricted financial climate caused us to take on extra debt to maintain our households.

This is despite Kiwis remaining relatively prudent throughout the year. Many more of us overpaid our mortgages rather than redrawing, and those who could save did so cautiously. The survey reveals most of us continue to put our funds into savings accounts and term deposits, although those in their 30s and 40s are leading a charge into stockmarket investing. And we’re getting smarter about our retirement funds, although we remain heavily reliant on KiwiSaver or property investments to buffer our NZ Super payments.

The report tracks the dramatic shrinking of the First Home Buyers pool, particularly among those in their 30s and 40s, and in higher income brackets. For many, the dream of home ownership has simply been shelved. And those who still hope to get on the ever-distant home ownership ladder are making huge sacrifices to do so.

For further details please visit the Canstar NZ site, here.

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