Women in New Zealand are recording higher home-ownership rates than men in almost every age group below 70, according to an analysis by Stuff. The analysis uses property ownership data compiled by Stats NZ. The pattern persists even though women still earn less than men on average. It challenges the assumption that greater lifetime earnings are the principal route to owning a home in the country. A mortgage-free property also represents accumulated wealth and a more stable form of household security than cash savings. The available figures do not identify which incomes, choices or housing-market conditions produced the gender difference. The ownership data nevertheless points to a persistent divergence between men's and women's housing wealth well before age 70.