Housing affairs: Young Kiwis turning to Tinder to find mortgage mates
Eden Park stadium stands surrounded by residential houses
All over the world, people use Tinder in search of a partner that they could spend time and connect. However, in New Zealand, the dating app is being used by aspiring first-time homebuyers asking for a prospective partner that might assist them in acquiring a house.
According to data provided by Tinder, the number of Kiwis mentioning that they were looking for a partner to buy a house in their Tinder profile had more than doubled.
A Tinder spokeswoman told a New Zealand-based news outlet ‘Stuff’ thatthe phrase “buy a house” in new users’ bios increased by 2.6 times between June 2020 and June 2021.
The bio is the area of Tinder users’ profiles where they can write about themselves, and outline what they are looking for in a partner.
Tinder provided examples of bios, ranging from light-hearted playful to pure transactional.
“Apparently it's easier to buy a house with someone else. Genuine outdoors bloke looking to settle down hopefully,” a user wrote.
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“Bank told me I needed to find a partner to buy a house,” said another one.
“Just want someone to buy a house with, nothing serious,” said a prospective home buyer.
“Apparently it’s easier to buy a house with someone else. Genuine outdoors bloke looking to settle down hopefully,” one man wrote.
“Looking for someone to combine incomes with so we can buy a house using the Kiwibuild $180,000 couples limit,” said another.
However, despite the playful nature of these posts, the growing number of users seeking house also points to a large problem that young Kiwis are facing—housing affordability.
According to local media reports, the average house price across the island nation has soared to NZ $906,532 (approximately US $643,982), up 22% since this time last year.
For the vast majority of homebuyers, banks seek a 20% deposit, and across the country, which means the buyer has to shell out NZ $181,306— which is more than 3.2 times New Zealand’s average annual wage.
Consumer NZ’s survey found that 20% of New Zealanders said they were saving for a deposit but couldn’t catch up, and 42% said they were locked out completely – a total of 62%.
(With inputs from agencies)