For two decades, under both National and Labour governments, housing costs have risen far faster than wages. Here’s a horrific graph that shows by just how much. Last Thursday saw the first of what will no doubt be dozens of housing-related set pieces from Labour, wherein they announced 8,000 public and transitional houses. Or, as … Read more
As New Zealand’s property market breaks new records, and politicians wring their hands about what to do, Child Poverty Action Group’s Frank Hogan suggests it’s actually the worst time to promote schemes to get people on the housing ladder. The New Zealand housing market has never looked more like a Ponzi scheme than it does … Read more
So is capital gains tax a good idea or…? Depends who you ask, but this Auckland house (Janaye Henry) that just made $140,000 in a year makes a pretty strong case for why it might be good, actually. As your average Auckland house, I’ve got to say 2020 has been pretty great for me. Just … Read more
Thanks to falling interest rates and higher wages, mortgage affordability has remained surprisingly steady, writes Greg Ninness for interest.co.nz. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t a lot tougher for those trying to get onto the housing ladder. The latest house price figures make startling reading for potential first home buyers. According to the Real Estate … Read more
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change. It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately needed. But we can … Read more
What if you could grow a house from seed or 3D print a new subdivision in a week? The housing sector is ripe for disruption – could technology be the magic bullet we need? Jo Aitken sounds like she’s pitching an episode for the next season of Black Mirror. Her ideas about the future of … Read more
Property owners learn their fate on Thursday with the Tax Working Group‘s big reveal on capital capital gains tax. But whatever happens, it won’t be the housing panacea Generation Rent is hoping for, warns TOP’s Geoff Simmons. Here’s a message for young people who don’t yet own a home. In the coming months you will … Read more
A property developer and a restaurateur have spent $10m purchasing a Queenstown mountain they plan to turn into a commercially viable eco-haven. Want to buy an affordable house with a native forest outlook in the tourist mecca of Queenstown, and do good for the planet at the same time? Treespace has the solution for you. … Read more
Today brings confirmation about the depth of the crisis in a global context. We need bold action, not tinkering at the edges. And overhauling the tax system has to be part of the change, write Geoff Simmons The Demographia Housing Affordability Report released today shows our country is losing at housing. We are the worst … Read more
The MP who rumbled property managers talking about the so-called ‘KFC test’ for tenants writes about why they need to be stopped. It is clear that most landlords and property managers are doing it right – they are providing an essential service for New Zealanders and are doing a good job, in a respectful and … Read more
Many of today’s concerns around home ownership and urban planning were found in centuries past, writes Jeremy Moyle Current anxieties about city planning and the possibility of home ownership can seem like particularly modern issues, but their origins are old – really old – and the concerns of 19th and early-20th century New Zealand sound … Read more
If New Zealand is to crack the problems of unaffordable housing, the government must look seriously at how the better parts of America finance infrastructure, argues Eric Crampton, This seems about the worst possible month to be suggesting that anybody should try to emulate anything going on in America. The place seems to be going … Read more