[1] The homeless population is generally measured through the country's census and by universities and other academic centres.
[2] Homelessness in New Zealand has traditionally been reduced by the provision of state housing, similar to Germany and other developed countries.
[5] In late January 2019, the New York Times reported rising housing prices to be a major factor in the increasing homelessness in New Zealand so that "smaller markets like Tauranga, a coastal city on the North Island with a population of 128,000, had seen an influx of people who had left Auckland in search of more affordable housing.
Average property values in Tauranga had risen to $497,000 from $304,000 in the last five years, and Demographia now rated it among the 10 least affordable cities in the world — along with famously expensive locales such as Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sydney and Vancouver, British Columbia.
[7][8] In mid December 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development estimated that 1,500 people out of Dunedin's 135,000 residents were homeless and expressed concerns that the figure could double.