Do you know what your credit score is?
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
If you're in Nelson, Tasman or Marlborough, it might be among the highest in the country.
A credit score is a number, usually between zero and 1000, used by a credit rating agency to illustrate your creditworthiness.
It is driven by things like how reliably you make your payments on time, how much debt you are carrying and whether you have ever had a payment default.
Data from Centrix shows that, on its scale, people in Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough are top of the table. Tasman was at a median 765, up one point from 2024, tied with Nelson which was up six points from 2024. Marlborough was just behind, with a median score of 760, up seven points on 2024.
Auckland, Gisborne and Northland were at the bottom. Auckland's median score had improved just two points since 2024, to 732. Gisborne was up four points to 714 and Northland up six points to 738.
People who were older tended to have higher scores. Those aged over 50 had a median score of 770. People aged 18 to 24 had the lowest median, at 618.
Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said the age of the population probably drove the regional scores.
"Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough have among the oldest populations in the country, ranked fifth, first and second out of 16 regions for 65-plus population as a share of the total population," he said.
"Older age groups are more likely to own their own home and have accumulated wealth through their lifetime, so would have less reliance on debt and therefore be less likely to have issues such as late repayments which drive down credit scores.
"Conversely, Auckland has the youngest population out of all regions, with only 13% of their population aged 65-plus, compared to 22% to 25% for Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough."
But he said regional economic performance could also be a factor. The South Island had generally been stronger more recently.
"Overall levels of wealth and deprivation have a bearing too – people do still have debt in older age groups, and if they are in a more perilous economic state then you would expect their credit performance to be lower."
Centrix chief operating officer Monika Lacey said life experience helped older people have higher credit scores. "The older generation have gone through tough times, so they know how to cut back expenses and let some of those luxuries go."
She said people often had better incomes later in life and could have a lower mortgage and fewer commitments than the younger age brackets.
"If you are 50-plus, if you have a mortgage, you might have paid most of that off. So your expenses from that perspective are lower than maybe someone in their 30s or 40s who has a mortgage but is paying a higher amount and has children."
More than 420,000 people behind on repayments
Centrix data out on Thursday showed consumer arrears were steady at 10.74% of the population who had active credit in August.
There were 424,000 people behind on repayments but arrears were 11.2% lower than a year ago.
Mortgage arrears had fallen from 1.22% in July to 1.19% in August, the lowest level since December 2022. Mortgage arrears were 13% lower than a year ago.
Lacey said rising interest rates would put pressure on but there would be lag because most people had fixed terms for their mortgages with time yet to run.
But Centrix data showed financial hardship had begun to rise again and 14,500 accounts were reported in hardship, up 500 from the previous month and up 2.2% year-on-year.
Borrowing activity was below last year's levels, Centrix said.
"Consumers are just being a bit more deliberate in their decision-making process when it comes to credit products," Lacey said.
"Overall consumer demand is still a bit soft."
Liquidations remained 14% higher on a rolling 12-month basis.
Construction was the biggest contributor to the liquidation volume, but activity in the sector was 1% lower than a year ago.
Age band median Centrix score:
- 18-24: 618
- 25-29; 681
- 30-39: 718
- 40-49: 745
- 50-64: 770
- 65+: 770
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