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Suburb profile · Hawke's Bay · NZ

Wairoa NZ

Wairoa is in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, with population 4,707.

The read

Livability-led

There are enough weaker signals here that you should expect trade-offs, not a clean local story. Compare it directly with stronger nearby suburbs before treating it as a preferred option.

$463/wk
1/04/2021 → 1/01/2026 · 20 periods
Tenancy Services · 1/01/2026
$470
$125
1/04/20211/01/2026
Why it fits

School coverage gives the page a stronger family/livability signal.

What to check

Higher deprivation should be treated as a local-context caution.

Median rent
$465/wk
Income-stretched rent market
D2 vs NZ
Population
4,707
5K local footprint
D10 vs NZ
Income
$31K/yr
Median personal income
D2 vs NZ
NZDep
Decile 10
Higher deprivation
D10 vs NZ
Schools
6
matched school context

Area prices & affordability

Median sale price
House median, TA-wide
Lower quartile
Entry-level price
House Price Index
4,312
QV-based HPI
11.3%5yr
Income to buy
Years of median income
Annual sales
45
Transactions, TA

Price trend

1yr -19.3%5yr -6.5%
QV House Price Index (Jan 2007 = 1000)

QV House Price Index for the Wairoa District territorial authority (monthly, Jan 2007 = 1000). A valuation-based index of price movement over time — distinct from the actual median sale price above.

Years of median household income to buy

Figures are for the Wairoa District territorial authority (2025-Q4). New Zealand has no free suburb-level sale-price series, so these are TA-wide medians from HUD Local Housing Statistics (LINZ District Valuation Roll + Stats NZ) — a market backdrop for Wairoa, not a Wairoa-specific sale price.

Rent trend depth

Rent cycle positionRents rising
Low · 2020Peak · 2024

1.5% below peak rent · 71.5% above its low

Rent growth (compound)3-yr +7.0%/yr · 5-yr +10.2%/yr

Rent trend is derived from MBIE tenancy-bond medians and excludes suburbs with too few bonds to be reliable.

Personal income

$31K personal · yr-21.7% vs Hawke's Bay suburb median
Personal income distribution (Census 2023 · annual)
$10,000 or less
435
$10,001-$20,000
483
$20,001-$30,000
768
$30,001-$50,000
858
$50,001-$70,000
549
$70,001-$100,000
321
$100,001 or more
117

Median individual income. NZ has no suburb-level household-income or sale-price data, so this is a personal-income benchmark, not a household-affordability measure. Distribution covers people aged 15+ with stated income; counts are randomly rounded to base 3.

Housing stock and tenure

Home ownership over three censuses+6.9pp since 2013
2013
54% owned
2018
58% owned
2023
61% owned

10.2% of private dwellings were unoccupied on 2023 census night (holiday homes, empty rentals, and vacant stock).

Dwelling condition (occupied dwellings, self-reported)

36% damp (+1pp vs 2018) and 29% with visible mould larger than A4 (+1pp vs 2018).

Investor-specific data (gearing, investor concentration) is not published for NZ suburbs — the tenure trend above is the available investor signal.

Population outlook

8,890 people · 20239,140 by 2033 (+2.8%)

Stats NZ subnational projection (2023 base, medium series) for Wairoa District — the finest official projection grain available; suburb-level projections do not exist.

Crime

Rate · per 100k4,806
Total incidents424· 2026-05
  • Assault8333%
  • Burglary16364%
  • Robbery31%
  • Sexual Assault62%

Natural hazards

Earthquake exposure
Moderate
Proximity to active faults
Nearest active fault
14.8 km
Unnamed

Earthquake exposure is the distance from Wairoa's centre to the nearest mapped active fault (GNS Science NZ Active Faults Database) — an area estimate, not a site-specific seismic assessment. NZ's full ground-shaking model (NSHM) is not available as a queryable map layer.

Short-term rentals

14
active listings · ~3.0 per 1,000 residents
100%
entire homes (vs private rooms)
7%
run by multi-listing operators
Investment view Estimated
$246
median nightly (entire home)
32%
estimated occupancy
$31,623
estimated annual revenue (gross)

Active Airbnb listings point-mapped to this suburb from Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0). Occupancy and revenue are estimates from Inside Airbnb's San Francisco model (review-rate proxy, minimum-stay assumption, occupancy capped at 70%) — they are gross, indicative, and not a guarantee of returns. Short-stay letting is subject to state and local regulation.

Schools

Total6
Students1,012
State4
State : Integrated1
Charter School1
  • Wairoa CollegeSecondary (Year 7-15) · State
  • Wairoa Primary SchoolFull Primary · State
  • TKKM o Ngati Kahungunu o Te WairoaComposite · State
  • St Joseph's School (Wairoa)Full Primary · State : Integrated
  • Tiaho Primary SchoolFull Primary · State
  • Te Whare Kounga (Proposed opening date: 2026-07-20)Secondary (Year 7-15) · Charter School

Livability

86/ 100 livability index

Top 14% most liveable of 1,902New Zealand suburbs.

Peer distributionstronger than 86% of New Zealand districts
WeakerTypicalStronger
Everyday access83
Public transport0
Schools & hospitals100

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer

Suburb-level access-density index (not an address-level walk-time score), normalised within New Zealand suburbs. Method based on the Urban Liveability Index (Higgs et al. 2019) and Walk Score — three equal-weighted domains combined with an imbalance penalty.

Stronger alternatives nearby

Cheaper to rent

lower weekly rent · cross-TA

Higher income

personal median · cross-TA

Less deprived

lower NZDep decile · cross-TA

Alternatives are similar-rent suburbs (0.6–1.6x this suburb's median rent) in other territorial authorities that exceed it on the named metric. Indicative — not financial advice.

Building activity

Latest consents
6
0 houses · 6 units
80.6%YoY D7 vs NZ

Employment

Employed residents
1,890
Was 1,800 in 2018
5.0%vs 2018 D9 vs NZ

Full data detail

Wairoa Hawke's Bay — Property Data and Demographics

Wairoa is a small suburb in Hawke's Bay with a population of 4,707 and a median age of 35. Median personal income is $31K per year. The main ethnic groups are Māori, European, Pacific Peoples. Hawke's Bay population estimates moved -0.1% in the year ended June 2025, after moving +0.5% in 2024, which should be read as a broader regional movement backdrop rather than suburb-level migration precision. The resident employment base moved from 1,800 in 2018 to 1,890 in 2023 (+5.0%), which should be read as a census-to-census employment backdrop rather than a live jobs series. Te Waihanga's December 2025 Pipeline snapshot tracked over 12,000 NZ infrastructure initiatives, with more than 2,700 under construction and transport taking 52% of projected 2026 pipeline spend, which should be read as a broader national delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project list.

Median weekly rent in Wairoa is $465 (465 houses, 360 units). This represents approximately 77% of median weekly personal income.

Livability indicators for Wairoa: NZDep decile 10 (high deprivation); 6 schools with avg EQI 533.

In 2026, Wairoa recorded 6 building approvals (0 houses, 6 units), down 80.6% year-on-year.

Market & money
Livability signalsHeuristics
Rent Affordability77% Stretched
School QualityEQI 533 Below Average
DeprivationDecile 10 High
Development-81% Slowing
Rental marketMBIE
Median rent · wk(1/01/2026)$465
House · wk$465
Unit · wk$360
Rent / income77.0%
Lodgements72
DevelopmentStats NZ
Consents (2026)6
Units6
YoY change-80.6%
People & prosperity
DemographicsCensus 23
Population4,707
Median age35
Household size
HH income · yr
Personal income · yr$31,400
Deprivation (NZDep)NZDep23
Less deprived10/10
NZDep score1173

1 = least deprived · 10 = most deprived

EthnicityCensus 23
Māori3,510
European1,953
Pacific Peoples225
Asian117
MELAA9
Top industriesCensus 23
Manufacturing474
Education and Training231
Health Care and Social Assistance177
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing168
Retail Trade162
Area & amenity
Local amenitiesOSM
Supermarkets1
Pharmacies1
GP / clinics1
Fuel stations4
Cafes & dining4
new world1
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Current status
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Sources & freshness
Strong evidence

Wairoa has enough direct local evidence for a first-pass decision.

NZ suburb pages combine Stats NZ, MBIE, MoE, GTFS, and pinned service coverage. The key difference is that some items are direct feeds, while others are fallback or snapshot layers.

RENT POSTURE
Rent is using MBIE bond data when present.

Treat current rent as a decision input, not as a guaranteed market quote.

HOSPITAL POSTURE
Hospital coverage comes from an official pinned snapshot.

This is a trusted coverage layer, but it is still a pinned snapshot rather than a live facility API.

TRANSPORT POSTURE
Transport is feed-based and depends on GTFS bundle coverage.

It is good for stop presence and local network context, but not a guarantee that every operator or schedule is equally current.

Data status
Weekly rent
MBIE rental bond data · 1/01/2026 · Bond market dataset
stable source · automated · every update · monthly
Available
Schools
MoE school directory · 6 schools matched
stable source · automated · every update · nightly
Available
Hospitals
Pinned Health NZ public hospital snapshot · No linked local hospital coverage
medium stability · mixed acquisition · snapshot · mixed
Missing
Transport
NZ GTFS bundle · No matched local transport stops
medium stability · mixed acquisition · snapshot · mixed
Missing
Building consents
Stats NZ building consents CSV · 2026 · Annual release series
Available
Demographic baseline
Stats NZ Census 2023 · Population, income, and demographic baseline
stable source · manual file · snapshot · census-cycle
Available
Available means a direct local source is linked. Verify means the page is using a weaker fallback or coverage-only snapshot, especially Census rent fallback or pinned hospital coverage.

Wairoa FAQ

Common questions
  1. What is the typical weekly rent in Wairoa?

    The median weekly rent in Wairoa is $465/wk, based on the MBIE market rent dataset. The current rent signal is income-stretched rent market.

  2. What does the rent signal say about Wairoa?

    Income-stretched rent market: Weekly rent screens at about 77% of annual income. Use this as a suburb screening signal before comparing candidates; the matching rent ranking can provide broader market context.

  3. What is the livability profile for Wairoa?

    QuickProperty's livability signals for Wairoa show: Stretched, Below Average, High. These are based on rent affordability, school EQI, NZDep deprivation index, and transport access.

  4. Where does QuickProperty get its data for Wairoa?

    Housing data comes from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). Demographics are from Stats NZ Census 2023. Schools data uses the Ministry of Education Equity Index (EQI). The deprivation score uses NZDep2018. Transport data is sourced from GTFS feeds.

  5. How often is the Wairoa data updated?

    RBNZ macro data updates with each deploy. Demographics are from NZ Census 2023. School EQI scores are from the Ministry of Education latest release.