Updated 12.37pm: New research on home ownership has found people who look stereotypically Maori are less likely to own their own home.

It comes from Auckland University, which surveyed Maori participants on how they thought they looked, and whether or not they owned their own home.

Associate Professor Chris Sibley acknowledges what they've found is a correlation.

But he says they've also tested whether other variables like gender, age, religion, or income can account for the correlation, and he says they don't change the result.

"There remains a reliable, practically significant association between people's appearance as Maori, and being less likely to own their own home."

Sibley says the finding is in line with similar international studies.

"The question that counts now and the one we really want to answer is why? Why are we seeing this association?"